The Melody of the Seas
by Escachick357
Summary: A slave girl, bought by Zoro, joins the Straw Hat Pirates as the new musician, but is there more to this girl's past, present, and future that could destroy the Straw Hat Pirates rather than help them?
1. The Green Haired Musician

The Melody of the Seas

By: Escachick357

Ch.1- The Green Haired Musician

Disclaimer- I don't own One Piece…damn.

Okay, this is my 2nd One Piece story. This is pretty much about a slave girl who joins the Straw Hat Pirates as the musician, but has something about her past, present, and future that could completely destroy herself and the crew. I've only seen up to episode 126, so I may not add some characters and might make some of the characters seem OOC, but hey, It's a fanfic.

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The sound of chains dragging filled the city of Yokuna. A man on a horse rode to the middle of the city. Behind him were four strong, muscular men holding chains clamped tightly on the feet and waists of twelve smaller figures. The smaller figures walked through the town, trying their best to ignore the snickers and whispering of the townspeople.

In the middle of the line of figures, which were kids aging between twelve to fifteen, was a girl with green hair and wearing a green hair ribbon. She heard her sister shaking in fear behind her, so she reached back and grabbed her sister's hand with her own and kept walking. By the time the line got to the middle of town, the sun had almost set and the townspeople were entering their own homes for the night.

The man on the horse dragged the line of kids into a small building with four bunks, removed the chains, then left the building, locking it from the outside. Nobody on the inside bothered to complain about it…except for the 2nd eldest girl, Haru. The kids in the building were all slaves that were going to be sold in Yokuna to either citizens or visitors. None of them liked it, but it was a way of life for them. People wanted others, especially kids, to do their own work for them and not having to pay.

The green haired girl laid down on the bed she shared with her sister. Both girl's bags sat on the floor by their bed. From the bunk next to them, Haru was sharing a bed with another girl and complaining about yet again being sold, especially since she claimed that she was kidnapped from a rich family and was forced to become a slave three years ago.

"I know this time my family will come and pick me up and bring me back to their mansion." Haru announced with excitement.

The boy on the top of her bunk laughed, "Yeah right, Haru. You always say that and then you get bought by someone else. You don't even know the name of your hometown."

Haru's cheeks grew red, "I…I'll find it sooner or later."

The green haired girl looked at her sister. Her sister's brown eyes looked into the girls' blue-green ones. "Do you think we'll be chosen?" The sister asked the green haired girl.

The green haired girl shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. Let's just go to sleep."

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Meanwhile, on the "Going Merry", Luffy turned his head back at Nami and asked, "Are we almost at…uh…that one city?"

Nami let out a sigh, "The city is called Yokuna. And we'll be there in about 3 days."

"Oh." Luffy answered as he turned his head back to the sea.

"It's getting pretty dark, do you think we should drop the anchor?" Zoro asked from the other side of the ship.

Without turning his head, Luffy answered, "Yeah. Probably." Zoro then got up and dropped the anchor.

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The sun rose in Yokuna. Men and women woke up and started with their chores and work. Then man on the horse unlocked the door to the small building and woke up all the kids inside with a sharp jab at their sides. The kids grabbed their bags and followed the man outside, shackles were placed onto their ankles by his helpers, and walked onto the large platform in the middle of town.

The kids sat down on the platform, eating the small, hard pieces of bread and drinking the small amount of water they were given for breakfast. The green haired girl's sister was yet again shaking nervously. She was shaking so badly that she could barely hold her cup and bread. The green haired girl put her hand on her sister's arm and whispered comfortably, "Calm down, Misao. Everything's going to be okay." Her sister nodded and finished her breakfast.

Once everybody finished, the lead man forced every one of the slaves to stand on the platform, a demand quite common in slave trades. You had to stand for hours until you were given a chance to sit by the guard. Within eight hours that day, four of the twelve slaves had been sold to four different people. It didn't surprise the green haired girl and Misao that they weren't bought.

The green haired girl was a slave that could read and write, one thing that slave owners didn't want their slaves to be able to do. Misao, on the other hand, was scared of her owners and spent most of her time hiding behind her sister. The two of them were ALWAYS the last to be chosen.

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Two days had passed and the original twelve slaves had been reduced to three: Haru, Misao, and Misao's sister. During the afternoon, the guard had taken the shackles off the girl's ankles for a while and turned his back to them to talk to a woman in the streets. As the guard's back was turned, four thirteen-year-old boys came up to the girls holding tomatoes and rocks.

They threw the tomatoes first and some hit the girls, but they couldn't fight back. In this era, slaves were about as low as pirates and would be punished if fought with others. Once the tomatoes were gone, the boys threw rocks, just barely missing the girls until one finally hit Misao.

Her sister looked at Misao and saw a tiny stream of blood coming from her brown curls and rolling down the side of her head. Her sister then decided to take action.

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The Straw Hat Pirates entered Yokuna an hour before and decided to wander around the town. Luffy and Zoro got closer to the platform and saw four boys throwing tomatoes and rocks. They saw the girls not fighting back until a little brown haired one started bleeding. Then they saw a green haired one run after them.

She punched the boy that hit her sister. Blood poured out of his nose and screamed in terror even though it was just a simple nosebleed. She went to the next boy and slugged him in the stomach. As he knelt to the ground, the girl went to the 3rd boy and gave him a black eye. Before she could do anything else, the 4th boy grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her to the ground.

As quick as lightening, he yanked the hair ribbon out of her hair. The girl yelled and started running at the boy, but his friends held her back. Fists were flying, mostly from her, and screaming came. The guard screamed at the girl, who escaped the boy's clutches and ran at the boy that held her hair ribbon.

The guard grabbed her and started dragging her towards the platform.

The girl screamed, "My treasure! He took my treasure!" and tried to loosen herself from his grip. The guard didn't let go of her.

The girl screamed even after she saw the four boys disappear.

Finally, the guard couldn't take it anymore. He raised his hand and smacked her on the back of the head just hard enough to knock her unconscious.

The guard signaled to one of his men to carry the girl back to the small building and onto one of the beds.

Misao stared at the man in fear. He had knocked out a little girl even though he didn't know what really happened. Luffy and Zoro were completely shocked. Never in their lives had they seen a man acting so cruelly to a little girl.

Haru and Misao went back to the building as soon as the sun began to set. Misao put her bag to the side of her sister's bed.

The green haired girl moaned and opened her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Misao asked her sister as she sat up.

Her sister nodded her head as a large green apple was put in her hands.

The girl looked at Misao and then at the apple, "How did you get this?"

Misao smiled, "I found some berries lying in the street, so I used them to buy the apple and some other things when the guard wasn't looking." As soon as she finished, she put an orange in Haru's hands and a peach in her own. The girls quickly ate the fruits before one of the men could check up on them.

Misao licked the peach juice off her fingers before reaching into her own bag, "Oh, and the man that I bought the fruits from gave me this." Misao then pulled out a newspaper and put it in her sister's hands.

The green haired girl opened it up and started reading.

"Anything good?" Haru asked as she threw her orange peels in the trash.

"Yeah. In fact, here's one for you, Haru." The girl answered.

"Read it!" Haru demanded. The girl took a deep breath:

"Hiko Morimura and his wife Aki have decided to stop continuing their search for their daughter, Haru. Haru, now currently aged thirteen, was kidnapped from her luxurious home in Yokuna 3 years ago and was trained to be a slave. After three years of searching homes and slave owners with no success, they couple made the heart breaking decision to stop searching."

Haru started to softly cry.

Misao and her sister weren't sure if they were tears of joy or sorrow. "Hey, Haru. It says that your parents live here in Yokuna. Even if you ARE bought, you can go home to your parents." Misao's sister said.

Haru wiped her tears and smirked, "I told you that I was rich and my parents were looking for me."

Misao faked a smile, "Yeah you did. Now you don't have to worry about working with me and my sister…"

"You two AREN'T sisters. You aren't even related." Haru interrupted.

"So what? Our bond is stronger than blood." The green haired girl answered.

Haru shrugged her shoulders, "Whatever. You two are probably going to split up later on in your lives. Right?"

The girls nodded. "Yup. When I become free, I'm going to be an artist." Misao announced.

"And even if I'm not free, I'll become a pirate." Misao's sister piped up.

Haru laughed, "A pirate? You really don't want your status to go up, do you?"

"Pirates are cool! And if I can, I wanna join a crew as good as…uh…that pirate that saved me, whatever his name is." Misao's sister announced.

"You can't even remember the name of the pirate that you claim saved you when you were a baby." Haru laughed.

Misao's sister's cheeks grew red with embarrassment, "Give me a break. I was only a few months old when I last saw him. Now let's go to bed before we get caught awake and get punished." Haru and Misao nodded and turned off their lanterns.

DREAM SEQUENCE

A small child with green hair sat in a circle of children, some older and some younger than she. The child read from a huge book sitting in her lap full of old folk tales of the world. The book was meant for kids around the age of fifteen, but the girl was only three and could pronounce every word in the book as if she was the rightful age.

"The end." The child finished before closing the book with a smile.

The woman in the corner of the room clapped loudly with tears in her eyes, "Very good."

The child ran to the opposite of end of the circle and into a nine-year-old boy's arms, "Onii-san! I did it!" The boy embraced her and smiled.

END DREAM SEQUENCE

The green haired girl opened her eyes. Around the room, she could see the sleeping figures of Misao and Haru. From inside the silent room, the girl could hear whispers of the lead man and his helpers. She put her ear against the wall to hear the conversation.

"That green haired one…she's out of control." One of the workers said.

"Yeah. She's been to multiple homes, but is still as wild as ever. Nobody's going to want to buy her." Another worker brought up.

The lead man let out a sigh, "Fine. The ship full of criminals is heading for Albunae in two days. If she's not bought by the time the boat leaves, put her on that boat."

'Albunae' the name echoed in her head as if it was yelled in an empty cave. That was where the most dangerous criminals: usually murderers and rapists, were sent. She shivered just thinking about the place, knowing that a girl as young as she was would not survive. The girl slowly and quietly found her way back to her bed and fell asleep.

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The sun yet again rose and the girls were yet again forced to walk to the platform with shackles on their ankles. The girls sat next to each other holding the bread and water they were given.

Misao was shaking harder than when she first started. A loud bang filled the city and Misao dropped her cup and bread onto the ground in surprise.

In an instant, a nearby stray dog swallowed the bread Misao had dropped and licked every drop of water on the ground and in the cup, then ran off.

Misao could feel tears forming in her eyes, but held them back.

Her sister broke her bread in half and gave a piece to Misao. After drinking half of her water, she gave the rest to Misao.

Later in the afternoon, a woman and man ran up to the platform and put their arms around Haru. The two of them were crying.

"Mom? Dad?" Haru asked the man and woman.

The woman nodded her head, "Yes. It's us."

Haru immediately put her arms on the shoulders of her parents and started crying along with them.

"15,000 berries for the kid." The guard announced to the man and woman.

The man stood up and looked the guard straight in the eyes, "I'm not paying for Haru."

"She costs 15,000 berries." The guard answered.

"I'm Hiko Morimura and am NOT paying for my kidnapped daughter. Now free her or I'll get the police involved." The man yelled.

The guard, knowing that a man like Hiko Morimura would have no problem getting the police involved to get what he wanted, unlocked the shackles around Haru's ankles.

Haru ran into her father's arms and cried.

Hiko looked back at the two girls remaining on the platform. "I want to buy one of those girls." He said, pointing at the platform, "Haru needs a sister."

The guard nodded his head, "20,000 for the brown haired one, 50,000 for the green haired one."

Misao gasped. She was going to be separated from her sister, possibly for forever.

Her sister gave her a shove forward.

Misao stared at her sister in surprise and shock, "Sis…what?"

Her sister answered, "You can get along with Haru better than I can, plus when you're with them, you can have your dream."

"No, you're my sister." Misao started.

"I'm still going to be your sister. And I always will be. Just go with Haru's family." Her sister interrupted.

Misao nodded her head, "Okay."

"I want Misao!" Haru announced, pointing at Misao.

Hiko knelt in front of Misao, "Misao, would you like to live with us and be Haru's sister?"

Misao looked back at her sister, who nodded her head. Misao looked at Hiko and nodded her head.

Hiko and his wife embraced Misao and handed 20,000 berries to the guard. The guard handed a few papers to Hiko and Aki, which contained mostly her name, age, birthday, and homes.

Misao and Haru grabbed their bags. Before she left with her new family, Misao gave a final huge and "good-bye" to her sister.

From a distance, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper saw the little girl giving a final good-bye to the person she loved the most. In a nearby alleyway stood the four boys that threw tomatoes and rocks at Haru, Misao, and Misao's sister. The leader was playing with the hair ribbon he stole.

" 'This is my treasure!' What a freak." The leader sneered.

"Yeah, it's just a lame ass ribbon." One of the boys laughed.

The rest of the group joined him.

Luffy couldn't stand listening to them making fun of treasures, especially ones of an innocent girl. He walked up to the boys and used the powers of his Devil Fruit to take their ribbon from them then ran off back to the Going Merry to clean the ribbon, which was dirty.

The sun set and the green haired girl had not been bought. She was thrown into her room with a piece of bread and a glass of water. She was alone. She missed Misao and being able to talk to her. A small stream of tears rolled down her cheeks and she cried herself to sleep.

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The next day, Zoro walked throughout the streets. He had 100,000 berries in his pocket and was going to use them to buy weights, but he looked at the thin girl on the platform. He knew about slave trades and what happens if a slave isn't bought. He tried to ignore her, but couldn't. She was just an innocent girl that needed a second chance.

Zoro walked up to the platform to get a better look at the girl on the platform. She was extremely thin, her hair was a beautiful emerald green, but her eyes were dull and blank. Zoro turned to the guard, "How much is this kid?"

"100,000 berries." The guard answered. He decided to double the price since last night.

_Hmmm…_ Zoro thought.

The girl in front of him didn't even look up at him.

The guard handed papers to Zoro, "Read these. They're information on her." Zoro looked at the papers _Hmmm…age twelve, no family, can read and write. I don't care about where she worked, I'm just confused about no name being on these papers._ He looked up at the guard, "Why isn't there a name on these papers?"

The guard shrugged his shoulders, "Nobody calls her by her actual name. She's usually given a nickname, so the next person that buys her can give her a different one."

Zoro turned to the girl and put his hand under her chin and lifted up her face so he could get a closer look at her. The lonely and helpless look on her face was almost too much for Zoro to bear. It was then that he had to decide whether to buy weights or the girl.

Zoro took a deep breath and handed his 100,000 berries to the guard, "I'll take her."

The guard smiled, had Zoro sign the ownership papers, then unlocked the shackles from the girl.

The girl grabbed her bag and walked up to Zoro.

Zoro looked at the girl as soon as she stepped off the platform and the guard had left. "Okay kid. My name is Zoro." Zoro told the girl.

The girl nodded her head, but didn't say anything.

"Uhhh…what's your name?" Zoro asked nervously.

"I've had many names." The girl answered.

"Well, which one is your favorite name?" Zoro asked.

"My original one." The girl said.

"And what's that?" Zoro asked.

The girl looked up into his eyes, "Emily."

Zoro smiled at Emily, "Well, then I'll call you that. I think we should be getting back to the ship."

"Ship?" asked Emily.

"Yeah. I should tell you that I belong to a pirate crew." Zoro answered. Zoro led Emily through the town, stopping every few yards, waiting for Emily to catch up instead of being behind. After a few stops, he asked her why she was so far behind and she simply answered that it was a slave's duty to stand a few yards behind their master while going anywhere.

They approached the Going Merry ten minutes later. As soon as Zoro's feet touched the deck, an energetic Luffy came running out, but paused when he saw the green haired girl standing a few feet away from Zoro.

He tilted his head that made him even more confused than he already was.

Emily let out a soft gasp and hid behind Zoro. Luffy looked at Zoro, "Zoro, what…"

"Are the rest of the crew inside the ship?" Zoro interrupted.

Luffy nodded his head. Before he could listen to what his captain had to say next, Zoro led Emily inside.

Everyone looked up from what they were doing as soon as they say the girl form the platform following Zoro. Nobody said anything. Luffy wasn't even sure what to say when he saw the rest of the crew staring at Emily.

Nami broke the silence after a minute, "Zoro…who is this girl?"

"Her name is Emily. She was the last slave on the platform and I bought her." Zoro answered.

Usopp looked into Zoro's eyes and asked, "You bought a slave girl without telling any of us? Where is she going to sleep?"

Emily decided to speak up from behind her new owner, "Sir…I can sleep anywhere in any condition. Even a cold stone floor in the middle of winter."

"That won't be necessary. You share the room with me and Robin." Nami answered before kneeling before Emily, "Is that okay with you?"

Emily looked up at Zoro, "Is that all right with you, Master Zoro?" Zoro cluelessly nodded his head.

Before going to her new room, Emily was introduced to the rest of the crew.

Tony Tony Chopper was extremely surprised that a little girl like Emily, who was three years younger than he was, wasn't afraid of him even though he was a talking blue nosed reindeer walking on two legs.

Emily's new room was, in her eyes, large. Possibly the largest room she ever slept in that had less than five people in it.

There were already two beds in the room: One surrounded by treasure chests and another with books on it.

Nami opened the closet and looked back at Emily, who stood in the doorway holding her bag, "We'll have to find you a temporary bed until we get you an actual bed…that is, if you join the crew. We've got a futon and a hammock that you can sleep in. Which do you want?"

"I…get to choose?" Emily asked timidly.

Nami nodded. "Then I'd like the hammock, Miss Nami." Emily answered.

Nico Robin reached up to the ceiling and brought down the hammock.

Emily walked up to the hammock and put her bag on top of it. She opened the bag and pulled out a small and very worn out pillow and blanket that had patches and holes in it. As she pulled those items out, papers, books, and a small rectangle box fell onto the floor.

Almost immediately, Nami and Robin started to pick up the papers and books.

Nami looked at the small poster she picked up off the floor. It was about 4 years old and was one of the posters of a traveling circus called the "Sky Gypsies." She saw a little girl with green hair playing a flute. "Is this you?" Nami asked Emily. Emily nodded her head.

Robin looked through one of the books that fell on the ground and tried reading the bars, lines, and dots on each page, "Do you still play the flute?"

Emily looked at the box then softly shook her head. Emily grabbed the papers and books from Nami and Robin and shoved them back into her bag along with the rectangle box.

Nami and Robin, sensing that Emily wanted to be left alone, left for the deck. When the door to the room closed, Emily reached in and pulled out her rectangle box. On the top of the box, in very delicate handwriting, was her name in green. The person that made it for her made sure that it was in emerald green, the same color as her stolen hair ribbon, just like she requested. But she was seven and was treated like a normal girl at the circus, not a slave.

Emily opened up the case and looked into the flute that lay inside just begging to be played, but she couldn't. It seemed that whenever she wore her ribbon, she gained the confidence to play. But now that she didn't have it, she just couldn't get herself to do it. She wouldn't play even if one of the Straw Hat Crew or Misao bought her a new one. It wouldn't feel the same.

A soft knock came from the other side of the door, almost too soft for Emily to hear. The door opened slowly and two sets of footsteps entered the room.

Emily looked up in surprise and saw Luffy and Chopper standing by her.

Luffy's eyes widened and an even bigger smile formed on his face, "A flute! Do you play?"

Emily shook her head, "I need something else to help me play. And it's gone."

The smile disappeared, "Oh."

Chopper reached into his pocket and handed a small item to Luffy.

Luffy took the item from Chopper and held it in front of Emily, "I think this is yours. I saw those boys steal it from you the other day and I got it back yesterday."

Emily timidly grabbed the item from Luffy's hand and looked at the back. The second she noticed the lime green dots, bars, and lines on the back, tears rolled down her cheeks.

With the ribbon still in her hand, Emily threw her arms around Luffy's sides and cried "thank you"s repeatedly. When she finally let go, she ran to a nearby mirror and carefully put the ribbon in her hair. She thanked both Luffy and Chopper one last time.

A delicious smell filled the entire ship.

Luffy jumped up in the air and ran to the kitchen.

Chopper followed him to the kitchen so he could try and make sure that Luffy didn't eat all of the food that Sanji had just cooked for dinner.

Emily closed her flute case, but didn't leave the room. As a slave, she knew that it was against the rules to eat with your master at the same table.

The Straw Hat Crew was seated around the table; all were confused about where Emily was or why she didn't follow Luffy and Chopper.

Zoro left the table and walked into Emily's room.

Emily was still standing by her bed, "Yes, Master Zoro?"

"Why aren't you at the table with the others? Aren't you hungry?" Zoro asked in one of the softest tones he had ever used in his life.

Emily's stomach softly rumbled, "I'm…not allowed to eat with my master."

"Who said that?"

"Every slave knows that."

"Emily, when you're with the crew, you don't have to wait until everyone's done eating just to eat."

"Really, Master Zoro?"

"Really. Now let's eat. Everyone is waiting for you."

"Okay."

Zoro took her hand and led her to the table. As soon as she took the remaining seat at the table, a whole plate full of food was placed in front of Emily. Never before was so much food offered to Emily. But she grew nervous because of a memory that came to her…

FLASHBACK

Six-year-old Emily and six-year-old Misao sat around a small wooden table with at least seven other kids around their age. The nine of them had been working all day with only a few slices of bread and water in their stomachs. Nine plates were now placed in front of them. On the plates were bowls filled with a brownish liquid, soup probably but nobody but the cook knew what it was.

At first, the nine of them refused to eat, but they knew they had to. Their master was coming and was going to make sure that they would. A miracle came for eight of them.

The family dog, who wanted attention, jumped up onto the table and ran to the other end, knocking down eight of the nine bowls. The bowls crashed to the ground and spilled the soup onto the floor. Only Emily's remained.

The master came into the room. His eyebrows twitched as he saw eight bowls crashed onto the ground and his dog jumping off the table. He stomped towards the table and demanded the eight kids to leave the table. They did as they were told. The master walked up to Emily and he clenched the whip he held, "Your food is still there. Eat it."

Emily looked into her food. Limp vegetables floated along the top, she saw bugs and a spider in it, and it smelled terrible. Slowly, she put the bowl up to her lips and took a sip. It tasted terrible. She removed the bowl from her lips.

"Eat it! All of it!" the master demanded harshly.

Emily shook her head.

The master cracked his whip onto her back.

Emily cried out in pain, but refused to eat. After fifteen more cracks, Emily ignored the pain inside herself and swallowed every drop without vomiting. But she knew the pain had just begun…

END FLASHBACK

Emily moved her fork into the meat that sat on her plate and slowly moved it into her mouth. The food was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten in her life. The smile on her face assured Sanji that the food was made right.

As soon as everyone finished their meal, Emily ran to her bedroom and brought out her rectangle box. She stood in front of the entire crew and started to put her flute together. Every one in the room grew silent as Emily softly clacked her fingers on the keys to make sure none of them were stuck. When assured that they were fine, Emily put her mouth by the mouthpiece and started to play a lively, upbeat tune.

The notes she played were perfect and the music that filled the boat was serene and cheerful and captivated the crew. Never once had anybody heard a tune played so beautifully before in their lives.

Emily's fingers moved from key to key as if they were alive and free.

By the time the song was over the crew stared at her with smiles on their faces and a feeling of amity on the inside of their bodies.

The second she stopped playing, Luffy started cheering as loud as he could, everyone else smiled and clapped their hands in appreciation.

Emily didn't smile. She was afraid that she'd be beaten if she did smile like at most of her other homes and she didn't want to live through all that again.

The sky darkened and most of the crew started getting ready to go to sleep. After she had played, Luffy announced that the crew was to be leaving the next afternoon. Emily had already asked Zoro if it would be okay if she could visit Misao one last time before the Going Merry left Yokuna. Zoro nodded his head.

Before he left for his shift, Zoro made a quick stop to the girl's room. He opened the door just wide enough to stick his head in and look at the sleeping figures of Nami, Robin, and Emily.

Emily's normal worn out pillow and blanket had been replaced with a fresh and comfortable set by Nami. She looked so peaceful under the fresh set that she didn't know she had and it made Zoro smile.

Zoro closed the door and walked onto the deck to tell Luffy who, at the time, was standing guard.

Luffy looked at Zoro and climbed down from the crow's nest.

Zoro looked into his captain's eyes, "Should we keep her?"

"What?" Luffy asked, tilting his head.

"Do you think we should keep Emily?" Zoro asked. He didn't want to admit it, but in just a few hours he had grown attached to the little girl.

"Well, it's your decision, Zoro."

"What do you mean 'my decision'?"

"You bought her and you can choose what you want her do to: live with another family or be a part of this crew."

"I don't know. She seems to already have been through enough already. She probably doesn't even want to be a pirate."

"She does."

"How do you know?"

"She told me after she plated. I asked her if she wanted to be a pirate and she said that she did, but didn't say why she wanted to be a pirate. So like I said. It's your decision, Zoro. You bought her now what do you want to do with Emily?"

It took Zoro a minute to think.

"I want her to be a part of the crew."

The second Zoro finished, Luffy jumped up in the air screaming joyfully, "Yay! I finally got a musician!" His voice echoed through the streets and sea. A few of the crew members were awakened from their sleep, but Luffy didn't care. He had his musician at last.

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Okay, that's what I got so far. I know that slaves weren't treated like they were in slave trades, but this is my story and they did. R/R if you want, but no flaming. Oh, and I've fixed this chapter up a tiny bit and just want to make a few things clear. I'm not telling people that they have to like this story, but if you don't like it, then please don't insult it. Haru is not just a boy's name. There are girls also named 'Haru', so her name will not be changed to 'Haruko' just to make it sound more girly. I think 'Haru' is a pretty name for a girl. The Marines would be okay with the child slavery and I remember the episode where the little girl tried to feed Zoro and she wouldn't have died. Hurt, maybe, not died.


	2. My Sister, the Pirate

Ch.2: My Sister, the Pirate

Disclaimer- I don't own One Piece…Emily, Haru, Misao, and the guard are a different story, though.

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Emily opened her eyes when the sun had just finished rising. She gasped when she noticed the blanket and pillow that she had, definitely not the ones she went to bed with. The room looked the same as it did yesterday except all the books from Robin's bed were gone. She jumped out of her bed and quickly changed into a set of clothes from her bag.

Emily looked into a nearby mirror at herself and sighed. Her clothes were getting worn and she noticed a tear appearing in the knee of her pants, her shirt didn't have any holes in it, but she'd worn that same shirt since she was ten years old and it still fit. Even with the ribbon in her hair, she looked…almost the opposite of how normal girls her age looked. Emily wiped a tear away and stepped out of the bedroom.

She walked around the inside of the ship, hoping to see Zoro…or anyone else for that matter, but she couldn't find anyone. She finally stepped into the kitchen and saw Sanji standing over the stove.

He turned around and smiled through his cigarette at Emily, "You're awake. Are you hungry?" The rumbling from Emily's stomach answered the question for her. Sanji let out a chuckle and put some food onto a plate and placed it onto the table.

Sanji pulled out a chair and motioned for Emily to sit.

She stared at the food that was on the plate: oatmeal, something she hadn't eaten since she was in the circus. She took the clean spoon that lay next to her plate, took out a scoop of the oatmeal, then slowly put it in her mouth. She wanted to be able to quickly take the spoon from her mouth if it was poisoned or didn't taste good.

To her surprise, the food tasted like it did the night before: delicious and unpoisoned. The rest of the scoops were taken more quickly until the rest of the food was gone. "Where's Master Zoro?" Emily asked the cook.

Sanji shrugged, "He said that he was going out for a walk, but didn't say where. Put your plate and spoon in the sink. I'll get to them later." Sanji turned his heel and walked off to the deck.

Emily looked at the sink at the other side of the kitchen. It was piled high with already dirty dishes, mostly from Luffy since he did eat like a ravenous wolf. Water was also in the sink with soap and rags mixed inside. Emily walked to the sink and started scrubbing the pile of dishes. She didn't mind scrubbing them. Her years of slavery had taught her to do anything that had to be done, no matter what it was.

She finished cleaning the pile of dishes in 10 minutes and took another 15 to clean the partially dirty kitchen, dirtied two rags, and put all the dishes in the cupboards. Every few seconds, she turned her head to see if her master was standing behind her, watching her every move and ready to strike with his whip if she messed up on anything. After she finished, Emily walked onto to the deck and sat behind Nami's orange trees, hiding herself from anybody until Zoro came back. She looked off into the distance and saw him walking up to the ship. Emily didn't move from her spot behind the trees.

She hid behind the orange trees even after Zoro had walked back onto the ship.

He had almost missed Emily hiding behind the trees because of her hair and clothes, but he noticed her because of her pale face, definitely not the color of the orange trees. Zoro stopped in front of Emily and knelt down so he could look straight at her face.

Emily was silent. She really didn't know what to say for fear that she might say the wrong thing and get punished.

"I found out where your sister lives. Are you ready to see her?" Zoro asked calmly.

Without smiling, Emily nodded her head and stood up on her feet.

Zoro walked off the Going Merry and through the town of Yokuna, Emily being 5 ft. behind him the entire time. Zoro stopped in front of a mansion just slightly smaller than Kaya's. Quickly, Zoro grabbed Emily, put her in front of the door, and rang the doorbell. He leaned towards her ear and whispered, "I'll see you on the ship at 4:00." Before walking away, leaving the small girl alone.

Emily waited in front of the house for someone to open the door and bring her to Misao. Before she could ring the bell herself, the door opened and a well dressed man stood in the doorway with a frown on his face.

"Yes?" He asked Emily.

Before Emily had the chance to say anything, a figure her size flung itself onto Emily and squeezed. Emily looked at the figure and hugged it back giggling, "Hi Misao."

Emily took a good look at Misao once the girls stopped hugging. In just 2 days, Misao was looking like a normal kid. Her clothes were clean and new, her shoes had no holes in them, her entire body was clean, and she even had some pretty hair accessories.

Haru walked up and looked almost as pretty as Misao. Emily couldn't help but feel jealous for both of them. Both of them were pretty, but in her opinion, Emily wasn't even cute.

Haru and Misao happily led Emily into the mansion to meet their parents up close and see the most recent drawings that Misao did. Although the drawings were of simple trees and flowers, they looked so real that Emily had the urge to stick out her hand and touch one of the drawings to see if they were real. She felt so happy for her sister. She was getting closer to her dream.

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Nami walked through the busy streets, casually walking and quickly sticking her hands into other people's pockets, and stealing their wallets. She did everything so quickly that nobody even knew she was pick-pocketing. When she got away from all the people, she stuck her hand into the bag tied around her waist and pulled out a purple wallet.

Nami smiled and the amount of money inside the wallet, "900,000 berries. Not bad."

"You never change, do you?" A voice from behind her asked.

Nami shoved the wallet back into her bag, turned around, and saw Zoro. "Of course not! I am a master thief and I can't let my skills go to waste!" Nami answered proudly. There was no way that she was ever going to stop thieving.

Zoro shrugged his shoulders and kept walking.

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"You're leaving?" Misao cried, "When?"

"In a few hours. Master Zoro told em that I have to go back to the Going Merry at 4:00." Emily answered.

"But…that's only 4 hours away." Misao cried.

"I know." Emily softly answered.

"Can you at least go with us for a final trip through town?" Haru asked.

Emily, though very surprised, nodded her head.

"Then let's go!" Misao cried, grabbing both her sister's hands and leading them through Yokuna.

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Usopp was busy standing in front of a shelf of spices and hot food at the time that the three girls left for their trip through Yokuna. He put his wrist under his chin to show that he was in deep thought. _Hmmm…I need a need a new attack…something that can spread something hot all over something and have it stick._ He stopped and picked up a bottle labeled "Mad Dog Hot Sauce".

_Hmmm…"Mad Dog Hot Sauce, the hottest hot sauce in the world. WARNING: Use only one drop at a time to avoid serious, burning pain. Do not use juice to calm the pain or it will get worse." I'll get this. Now all I need is something liquidy to spread sauce._ Usopp thought.

"I'll take a green apple." A voice from a nearby fruit stand announced.

Usopp turned towards the stand and saw Emily holding a large green apple. The two girls with her were holding an orange and a peach. A blonde girl handed the man at the stand a few berries. The girls then bit into their fruits. The girl with the peach had her fingers almost completely covered in peach juice after her first bite.

The blonde girl wrinkled her nose, "Geez, Misao. You think you can get any messier?"

Misao shrugged, "I can't help it, Haru. I love peaches and peaches are messy."

"She's got a point, Haru. She does love peaches and you can't eat a peach without getting covered in the sticky juice." Emily said, biting into her green apple.

Haru shrugged her shoulders and led Emily and Misao into a nearby bookstore.

"Peaches! I can use peaches add the Mad Dog Hot Sauce for a new bomb." Usopp said softly before buying the sauce and at least 10 peaches at a nearby fruit stand.

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The bookstore that Haru, Misao, and Emily went into was extremely dusty and had a strange smell that filled the entire room. The old man behind the counter looked at the girls and grunted, "What do you want?"

"We wanna look around." Haru answered. The old man stared at her, "The books here aren't for children. Why don't you go to a different store?"

The girls ignored him and started looking through the books on the shelves.

Every few seconds or minutes, the girls would look at different books, the old man watching them like a hawk. It didn't matter to them anyway; the books were all too dusty to even read the words. They were about to leave when Misao noticed a small box covered in a full inch of dust. She blew the dust off and opened it up. Inside the box lay an empty book, 4 pens, and 2 bottles of ink.

Misao closed the box and put it on the counter in front of the man, "I wanna buy this. Ikura desu ka?"

The man shoved the box to Misao and muttered, "Just take it. It's on me, just don't come back unless you have some real business here."

Misao nodded and carried the box outside, her sisters following her.

"I wonder what was wrong with him." Haru said loud. Misao and Emily shrugged.

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Sanji moved from the deck of the Going Merry into the direction of the kitchen. "Might as well get started on the dishes before I have to cook again." Sanji muttered. He paused when he got to his destination. The piled dishes were cleaned and put away and the entire kitchen was scrubbed clean, the complete opposite of how it looked that morning. "Emily." Sanji muttered, knowing that Emily was the last person in the kitchen.

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Emily, Haru, and Misao sat underneath a tree in a nearby park. "Hey Emily?" Misao asked her sister.

"Yeah?" Emily asked, not turning her head to look at Misao.

"What are your goals in your life?" Misao asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're already a pirate. So what next?"

"I wanna be free."

"And?"

"And…meet the pirate that saved me."

"And after that?"

"I…wanna be…the greatest musician or flutist in the entire world."

"Which one do you want first?"

"To be free. Freedom is rare and I wanna get it first."

Now it was Haru's turn to talk to Emily.

"Emily?"

"Yes?"

"I know that we aren't related and we both have Misao as a sister, so would you mind…if we became sisters too?"

"Sure, why not? I could always use more sisters and maybe a brother, too."

"Thanks, Sis."

"You're welcome, Sis."

The girls giggled and put their hands on each other's shoulders.

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From the other side of the park, giggling from a bunch of little kids and one big one were heard. "You can't catch me!" A small girl about the age of 4 called out, running away from the big one.

"Oh yeah?" Luffy called to the little girl, "Gomu Gomu no Tag!" His hands stretched out and tagged both the little girl and a little boy, "You're both it."

"That's not fair!" The boy yelled.

"Yeah. You can't use your powers!" The little girl yelled.

Luffy stuck out his tongue and ran off.

"Get him!" The little boy yelled. Both the boy and girl ran after Luffy and grabbed both his arms and held on tight. "We got ya! Now you're it!" Both of them yelled before letting go of the rubber boy and running off.

Emily, Misao, and Haru walked from their spot under the tree to the group of kids to see what all the noise was about. "Who's that straw hat boy?" Haru asked her sisters.

"That's the captain of the Going Merry." Emily answered.

"Really? He seems more like a kid than a captain." Misao exclaimed.

"Yes, it may be hard to believe, but he only acts like a kid when the crew isn't in danger." Chopper answered from the shade of a nearby tree. Robin was sitting next to Chopper, reading a book.

"Hey, Emily!" Luffy called form his spot. Ignoring the little kids running around, Luffy ran up to Emily and tagged her shoulder, "You're it."

Emily didn't move and looked confused. "What's the matter? Don't you wanna play?" Luffy asked.

Emily turned her face to the ground and muttered a response.

"What did you say?" Luffy asked.

Emily lifted her head, "I don't know how to play…" Emily muttered.

Luffy laughed and gave her the easy instructions on how to play the simple game of "tag". The second he finished, Emily reached up and touched his arm and said timidly, "You're it."

Luffy grabbed Emily's hand and cheerfully called out, "Come on Emily! Let's play!"

"Can Haru and Misao play, too?" Emily asked.

Luffy nodded his head. The three sisters held onto each other's hands and were drug to the much smaller children.

Even through all the running and playing around, Emily refused to smile. Even though Zoro wasn't around, she was scared of being beaten for laughing or smiling around her crewmates.

Robin and Chopper smiled at her and even laughed a few times, but Emily didn't return the joy.

Eventually, the 3 sisters got tired and decided to stop running around and tagging the other kids. Misao picked up her box that sat next to Robin and followed her sisters in another walk through town.

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Zoro was only a quarter of a mile away from the ship when the guard from the platform, the very man that knocked Emily out after the four boys stole her hair ribbon, ran up holding a medium sized black bag. "What do you want?" Zoro asked annoyingly.

Breathlessly, the guard handed Zoro the black bag, "I forgot…to give…this…to…you. Inside…is…something you should use…if the girl…disobeys you…"

"What is it?" Zoro asked the guard.

The guard caught his breath and answered, "I don't know. But her last master said to use it if she disobeyed you. He said that using this will help her learn her lesson." The guard then ran off.

Zoro looked at the bag and shrugged his shoulders. It probably wasn't anything bad inside, so he just carried it off to his room without looking in the bag.

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The 3 sisters walked down the streets, chatting and giggling the time away when Emily stopped, "Wait, what time is it?"

"Uhhh…" Haru looked down at her watch, "20 minutes to 4."

Emily gasped, "I have to get back to the ship!" The 3 sisters started walking at a quicker pace to the ports, to the Going Merry.

"Which ship is yours?" Misao asked Emily.

Emily pointed at the ship with a straw hat pirate sail, "That one. That's the _Going_ _Merry_."

"Wow…it's huge." Haru gasped.

"Hey, Emily. I want you to have these." Misao said, putting her box in Emily's hands.

"Your diary? But…" Emily started.

"I want you to write everything that you see and everything that happens, so that if we ever see each other again…I can read your book and know about it." Misao interrupted.

Emily nodded her head and hugged Misao.

"Hey, Sis? Can I hear you play your flute one more time before you leave?" Haru asked Emily.

Emily nodded, ran into her room, grabbed her flute case, and ran back outside. Emily quickly put her flute together and looked at her sisters, "Which song do you wanna hear?"

After 10 seconds of thinking, Misao cried out, "Play the song that always pissed Master Samuel off."

Emily nodded and played the same upbeat song that she played after dinner the night before. The 3 sisters had remembered when one of their last masters had heard that song and punished them for it.

FLASHBACK

Eleven-year-old Emily and Misao and twelve-year-old Haru were locked up in the cold, damp cellar of Master Samuel's house wearing only one set of thin clothes and no coat. All three of them knew why they were in there, but Emily was the only one who truly deserved the punishment and she knew it. Earlier that day, the girls were alone in the barn.

Emily wanted to play the tune that her master hated even though she never knew why and wanted Misao to hear her lyrics to the tune. Haru followed them.

Emily pulled out a piece of paper with the lyrics written by herself on it. She softly sang the song to Misao and Haru and they paled. The lyrics were saying cruel things about their cruel master. "Sing them while I play. It sounds better that way, Misao. And Haru, you should use your dancing skills to keep the beat." Emily explained.

"Emily! We could get caught!" Misao cried, grabbing her sister's arm.

"Oh, come on. The barn is empty and it's soundproof. Only we'll know." Emily convinced. The 2 girls agreed.

Emily played, Haru danced, and Misao sang, but none were aware that the ten-year-old son of the master had hidden in an empty horse stall. He quickly jumped out a window, ran to the house, and told his father about the barn.

Seconds later a large, red-faced man and a seventeen-year-old boy stomped towards the barn.

From the window they heard the happy and insulting song from the three slaves. The door flew open and the girls stopped.

Emily hid her flute behind her back, Misao hid the lyrics in her bag along her waist, and Haru moved her feet close together to keep her straight.

The boy closed all the doors and windows while the master walked up to each girl and slapped them. Hard. He grabbed Emily's flute and broke it in half, punched Misao in the throat, and slammed his feet onto Haru's. He went back to Misao, "Give me the words." Misao didn't move.

Master Samuel ripped the bag from Misao and dumped its contents on the barn floor. Seeds, skipping stones, homemade paints, and the written lyrics fell to the ground.

Immediately, the master grabbed they lyrics and read them. His face grew redder and got the reddest when he saw a green "E" in the corner of the papers. He knew what the "E" meant: "E" for Emily.

"Take these two to the cellar and lock the door," He demanded his son, pointing at Haru and Misao, "I'll deal with this one." He pointed at Emily.

His son nodded and drug Misao and Haru to the cellar.

Master Samuel reached into a black bag and pulled out Emily's worst enemy and used it before throwing her into the cellar with Haru and Misao and burning Emily's lyrics.

Emily wasn't upset about the flute being broken. It was only a wooden one that the carpenter made for her.

END FLASHBACK

The song ended and her sisters clapped.

The Straw Hat Pirates stood on the deck and waited for Emily.

Emily put her flute back in her case and smiled at her sisters.

"Emily, it's time to leave!" Zoro called from the deck.

Emily nodded at him and looked at her sisters, "I have to leave now."

"Remember to write." Misao said.

"I will." Emily answered.

The three sisters embraced one final time and cried out a final "I'll miss you" before letting go and the two elder sisters watching the youngest sister walk onto the ship.

The anchor was pulled into the ship and the ship started sailing away.

Haru and Misao stood on the port, waving and exchanging good-byes with Emily, who stood on the edge of the ship doing the same thing back. They stayed in that position even after the Going Merry and Yokuna could no longer be seen.

Eventually Emily put her arm down and laid it against the edge, but kept looking at the now gone Yokuna and her sisters. She kept staring until Luffy and Zoro came up to take her mind off of being separated from Haru and Misao.

Zoro put his hand on her shoulder and Emily slowly turned her head in his direction.

"Is something wrong, Master Zoro?" Emily asked softly.

"Emily, why did you want to become a pirate?" Zoro asked the upset little girl looking at him.

Emily took a deep breath and answered, "When I was a month old, a pirate saved me. He let me travel with him on his ship for a while before giving me up to an orphanage when I was about 6 months old."

"Sounds like a nice guy. What was his name?" Zoro asked.

Emily turned her head to the floor, "I can't remember. The woman at the orphanage told me his name multiple times, but all I can remember is that he had red hair and his name started with an S."

"Shanks?" Luffy asked, hoping to be helpful.

Emily lifted her head up quickly and jumped into Luffy's direction, "That's it! That was his name!"

Luffy stared off into the sky for a second, "Hmmm…I wonder why he never mentioned saving and traveling with another kid."

"I don't know. Probably because if people found out, he'd seem like a wimp, so he gave me up." Emily answered. She walked away form the two men, depressed. For every step she took towards the direction of her room, a conversation repeated in her head like a broken record.

"_We won't leave her. We can't!"_

"_We have to leave her and continue traveling."_

"_Why do we have to leave her?"_

"_She hasn't had an actual snack or full meal in her stomach in almost 2 months."_

"_What about the fruits we caught in the forest and the meat that I got last week?"_

"_We have to split all that food up with everyone in the group. She only got a small hand full of the food. She can't keep going on like this."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Her body looks like a skeleton and going through so much pain for a normal 9 year old."_

"_Not to mention that she's extremely weak and dying. The starvation is practically eating her alive and she can't even sit up on her own. If we don't leave her here, Emily is going to be dead within a few days. Do you want that to happen?"_

"…_no. I don't want her to die. Fine, we'll leave her if she's saved."  
_

Emily leaned against the wall, tears pouring out of her eyes like streams. She wanted to get the conversation out of her head and forget that she had been awake when it happened. She turned her head towards the wall so that nobody would see her crying. She promised herself that she wouldn't cry after Misao was brought into Haru's family and didn't want any of the crew members to see her break her promise.

FLASHBACK

_"Emily, we're going to have to leave you here." A soft voice said to the weak little body in its arms._

_Weak blue-green eyes looked up at the figure. She wanted to argue with the figure, but she didn't have the strength to do so. She didn't even argue when the figure put her in the arms of another, kissed her forehead, and left. That's when she started promising herself things._

END FLASHBACK

The tears wouldn't stop pouring no matter how many times Emily wiped the tears off her face and tried to hold them back. She had to try to force herself to stop crying. When she was with all her previous masters, she wasn't allowed to cry unless she wanted to be beaten by her worst enemy.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, but refused to turn her head for fear that it would be Zoro and that he'd beat her for crying.

"Are you okay?" A woman's voice asked.

Slowly, Emily turned her head and nodded and Robin. She wiped her tears away again and they didn't come back. "P-please don't tell Master Zoro that I've been crying." Emily pleaded.

Robin nodded.

"Thank you." Emily whispered, walking to her room.

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Five days had passed since the Going Merry had left Yokuna and Robin had caught Emily crying and like she promised, Robin didn't tell Zoro about Emily crying. The sea had been calm and everyone went about doing their own work. Like Luffy, Emily had already claimed a favorite spot on the Going Merry: behind Nami's orange trees.

Every day, she'd sit behind the trees holding her flute case, some pictures, and the diary that Misao had given her. Emily loved her spot, mostly because it was so peaceful…unless you'd count the number of times that Luffy tried to sneak an orange from the tree when she tried to relax. His rubber hands were always hit by Nami's rod or Sanji's legs and the attack was always followed by yelling.

On the 5th day all Emily wanted to do was relax, unless she had some chores to do, so she brought out another box slightly larger than her flute case. She moved to her spot behind the trees, took the item out of its box, and put it together. She was busy writing in the diary that Misao had given her when she heard the footsteps of the captain getting closer to the trees. She moved her pen to her left hand, grabbed the item, and threw it behind her.

Before he could touch an orange, Luffy saw something blue-green fly at him from behind the orange trees, hit him on his arms, and fly back to its original spot. "What the?" he asked and walked towards the back of the trees.

Zoro, who was awake and not far away, was laughing.

Luffy looked at his "attacker" only to find Emily reading her written entry and holding the blue-green item that attacked him: a boomerang.

"You got him, Emily." Zoro laughed from his spot, making Emily blush.

Luffy looked at Zoro in surprise, "Zoro? You told her to do this?"

Still laughing, Zoro answered, "No, I didn't."

Luffy turned his gaze at Emily.

Emily sighed, "Sorry Mr. Luffy, but I had to stop you from taking some of Miss Nami's oranges."

Luffy pointed at her boomerang and asked, "Where did you get that thing?"

"From the circus." Emily answered, "It was a gift when I was 8, after I mastered the flute."

"Thanks for protecting my trees. That boomerang looks extremely valuable." Nami said, walking behind her after punching Luffy in the back of the head.

"I don't care how much it is worth. I treasure it as much as I do my hair ribbon and wouldn't give any of them up." Emily answered.

Nami offered one of the oranges from the trees to Emily, but the younger girl turned her down, not to be polite or afraid that she'd be beaten, but because she didn't like oranges very much. She'd eat oranges if it meant to survive, but otherwise, she'd stick to green apples.

From behind Nami, Usopp was sitting on the deck, a bag full of large peaches sitting next to him. He'd grab a peach, fish out the pit with a knife or his own fingers, squish the peaches in his hands to make the juice fall into a small container, and tossed the rest into a separate container. By the time he was done, there was at least 2 liters full of peach juice and a small mountain of the skins.

The sweet, peachy smell went in the direction of Luffy and the rubber boy started running towards the pile of peach skins and started eating them quickly, sometimes without even chewing, and finished them in 1 minute flat.

Usopp didn't seem to mind Luffy doing that. He needed to get rid of the skins somehow. Usopp dumped a quarter of the bottle of the _Mad Dog Hot Sauce_ into the peach juice and stirred. The juice now became a blood red color.

Quickly, Usopp moved the juice into thin little balls and sealed them quickly. Those two liters of Mad Dog Peach Juice made exactly 53 new bullets for his slingshot.

Chopper was sitting next to him and carefully putting the balls in a small red bag while Usopp washed the hot and sticky peach juice off his hands, making sure that he didn't stick any fingers in his mouth until all the juice was gone.

From inside the ship, Sanji was busy inside the kitchen, making snacks for the girls no doubt, and humming a merry tune. Robin was in the same room re-reading a book she had read a billion times. Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper were staring in amazement at the new bullets Usopp had made (even though Luffy was just excited about all the skins he got). Nami was standing by the bow, watching the direction of her compass with a smile. Zoro was leaning against the crow's nest sleeping.

Emily looked at the crew on top of the ship, how peaceful, happy, and excited they were to have her on the ship. She turned to her book to continue writing, wondering how much longer these feelings would go on.

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A/N: Okay, that's what I got. _Mad Dog Hot Sauce_ is a real hot sauce if you didn't know. I think it's supposed to be the hottest hot sauce in the world or something like that and it's _very_ hot. I thought it might be fun to add something from this time in here. R/R if ya want, but don't flame me if the story sucks.


	3. Gaining a Friend, Losing an Enemy

Ch.3: Gaining a Friend, Losing an Enemy

Disclaimer- I don't own One Piece, but I wouldn't mind if I did because it's the 2nd anime I've seen that has no characters that I hate (sorry, but I did see "Shadow Skill" first).

A/N: From now on, the chapters of the story are going to be started with a diary entry from Emily. The italics are the entries, so I hope you don't get confused.

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_4th sun, 16th day of green lilies  
__(Wednesday, May 16)_

_The Hellraiser died today, murdered by Master Zoro…and I couldn't be happier. Just chopped him up and tossed him into the ocean. Mr. Luffy said that if his brother, Ace, was here, he'd have burned it to ashes with his Devil Fruit powers. But, since he's not here, the ocean would just have to make do. I asked Umiryuu to hide the remains deep into the sea, away from all the pirates. Now all the remains lay 5,000 miles under the sea. Never to be found again._

_0000000000_

Soft breathing came from Nami, Robin, and Emily's room. The three of them were peacefully sleeping until the "alarm clock" went off.

The "alarm clock" was Luffy and Usopp walking around the ship and screaming in their sleep before dawn. One of the final stops would be the girl's bedroom. They'd rip the door open and cry out in their sleep. They were, of course, unaware of doing it.

For eight days in a row, at least one of the two had been the alarm clock for the three females. Robin had woken up looking only slightly annoyed by the interruption. Nami woke up practically screaming and throwing something nearby her at the boys and woke them up. Emily woke up in surprise and fell from her hammock onto the floor.

On the 9th day, just before sunset, the ship shook violently. Books, small treasure chests, and various other items fell from the shelves and onto the ground. The hammock sharply rocked and Emily fell to the floor.

"Itai!" Emily cried.

"Are you all right, Emily?" Nami asked, turning on a nearby lantern.

Emily nodded and put a hand onto her left cheek where a bruise stood.

She was given the bruise four days ago after Luffy ran into the room screaming in his sleep. Emily climbed back into her hammock and fell back asleep.

Nami got up from the bed and stomped off to the boy's bedroom to yell at Luffy and Usopp, but to her surprise all the boys, especially Luffy and Usopp, were sleeping like babies. Nami shrugged it off and went back to her bed.

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"Geez, Emily! You got one hell of a bruise." Zoro announced at breakfast.

Emily swallowed what was in her mouth and answered, "I fell out of bed again last night."

All eyes turned towards Luffy and Usopp, who stared back in confusion.

"What?" They asked at the same time.

"It wasn't from them. I checked in on the male's quarters after Emily fell. It must have been from something outside because both Luffy and Usopp were sleeping." Nami spoke up.

"It's…okay. It's only a simple bruise. I'll be fine. I've had much worse injuries than this." Emily convinced the crew.

Nobody seemed to believe her, but she was telling the truth. Eventually, the thought was ignored and breakfast was continued, half of it being with the crew screaming at Luffy for taking the food off their plates.

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During the afternoon, everybody sat on top of the boat relaxing. The only crew members who were actually doing any real work were Sanji, who was making snacks for the girls, and Chopper, who was holding up sheets of music while Emily practiced her flute. It was tiring for the little reindeer, but he wanted to do anything to help his crew and the youngest member didn't have a music stand and needed to practice.

After a while, Emily thanked Chopper for his help and put away her flute and music. Now she had to practice with her boomerang. A sharp little breeze came from within the boomerang as it flew through the sky and returned to Emily's small hand. She threw it again and it whacked Luffy's rubbery hands before they touched Nami's orange trees and returned to its owner.

Sanji laughed as he handed out snacks he made to Nami, Robin, and Emily (after telling Luffy and Chopper that their snacks were in the kitchen). On the plate in his left hand sat 2 large glasses of chilled, mixed fruits for Nami and Robin (he offered this snack to Emily a few days ago, but she politely refused) and one large, chilled green apple.

Nami and Robin thanked Sanji for their mixed fruits.

Sanji knelt down in front of Emily and held the apple in front of her, hoping that she'd take it.

Timidly, Emily grabbed the apple, thanked the cook, and bit into the apple. The sweet juice filled her mouth and made her give a small smile towards him.

She ate the apple slowly to savor the flavor that fell onto her tastebuds. Every few minutes, she'd throw her boomerang at Luffy to stop him from getting to Nami's oranges. Once finished with her apple, Emily walked to the inside of the Going Merry to throw out her apple core and start to clean the ship.

Her work was done so quickly, so fast that it seemed as if she had to clean or she'd be killed or punished. Her two sets of clothes were already getting dirty and even more worn.

Nami desperately tried to sew up some of the holes in Emily's clothes, but couldn't. The cloth was just way too worn out and couldn't be repaired.

She led Emily to their room and opened up a treasure chest at the end of her bed. There was no gold or treasure inside, but there were clothes…clothes that would just fit her. Most of the clothes inside were ones that Belmeil made for Nami and Nojiko before she died. She was surprised that Nojiko still kept the clothes after 8 years and was even more surprised when she saw how small Emily was.

She held a few dresses up to Emily's body to see if any of them were too big or small. Most of the clothes were at least four sizes bigger than Emily was. Nami frowned and put a pair of black pants onto the small girl. The pants were a perfect fit as were the other six pairs that Emily tried on. Nami then moved to the shirts. Of the multiple shirts that Emily tried on, only four fit.

By the time the two of them were finished, Emily had eight "new" pairs of clothes, all of which felt comfortable.

Nami packed up all the clothes that didn't fit into the original treasure chest while Emily packed her new clothes into her bag, all except for one pair of pants and a blue shirt. Nami left the room and Emily changed into her new clothes and brushed her hair. After her hair ribbon was put in, she looked again in the mirror and forced herself to smile. She was getting closer to looking cute.

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Two days had passed and the breeze from the sea blew against the sails towards the city of Nanahana. It would take four days to get there…if no bad weather picked up. Everybody was yet again relaxing when a huge creature, like a dragon, came out of the ocean. The creature stood against the Going Merry, staring sadly at the crew upon the ship.

The creature shook violently and a growl came from its stomach. Everyone that stood up was now on the floor.

Luffy stared at the creature and got ready to attack it before Emily stopped him.

She calmly walked up to the creature and stuck out her small hand. In her hand lay a large green apple, one that Sanji had just given her to eat for a snack.

The creature leaned its head towards Emily and got closer and closer to her hand.

"Emily! Watch out!" Zoro yelled.

The small girl didn't move. The creature put its hand over her wrist and after about 30 seconds, removed its mouth. Emily's wrist was fine and her green apple was gone.

The creature smiled and began to speak, "Thank you for the food. It has been a year since I ate anything that isn't seaweed or fish. My name is Umiryuu, the sea dragon."

Emily bowed and introduced herself and the crew.

Umiryuu rubbed his head against the side of Emily's the girl giggled and stroked the side of the dragon's head that she could reach.

"Were you swimming around our boat a few days ago and banged into it?" Emily asked Umiryuu.

Umiryuu blushed and apologized after seeing the bruise on Emily's cheek.

Emily shook her head and explained about the Going Merry's "alarm clocks" and her falling out of her hammock when they went off.

Umiryuu leaned against the ship and followed its direction, talking with Emily the entire time as if he was an old friend of hers. Eventually, Umiryuu decided to leave. "If any of you need my help, just call me and I'll be here to help, my friends." Umiryuu told the crew before disappearing into the sea. Emily kept smiling. She'd made a new friend.

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Two more days had passed. Umiryuu had come to visit Emily the day before. It was the late afternoon of the 2nd day when Luffy finally noticed the black bag by Zoro's bed. "Zoro? What is this?" Luffy asked, pointing at the bag.

Zoro shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. The guard in Yokuna gave it to me. Said it was for Emily." Without thinking, Zoro carried the bag out to the lounge.

Inside the lounge, Sanji was cooking, Nami was reading the paper, Usopp was fixing a weapon, Robin was reading, Chopper was sorting out his medicines, and Emily was cleaning even though she wasn't asked to.

Zoro looked into the black bag and gasped. He started at the inside of the bag with disbelief in his eyes for the longest time. "No…they didn't…they couldn't…this has to be a joke." Zoro gasped.

"What's wrong, Zoro?" Luffy asked.

Zoro ignored him but looked over at Emily, "Emily, come here."

At first she didn't want to, for she knew what was in the back bag and feared it, but it was an order and she had to obey it. The second she got to Zoro, he spun her around so her back faced him.

Zoro apologized and lifted up the back of her shirt. He gasped at what he saw.

All over her back were lashes, deep lashes. Possibly the deepest he had ever seen before. Heavy scars plagued the back and left pictures in his mind even after his eyes had closed. Some of the lashes looked fresh, at least from three weeks ago. He put his hand on some of them and winced from the rough skin on the extremely small girl. Zoro wouldn't stop starting at Emily's beaten back.

"What's the matter, Zoro?" Nami asked, but stopped after seeing the back. These injuries looked even worse than the injuries that Arlong and his fish people had given the people in Cocoyashi. The look of the lashes made Nami feel sick to her stomach.

Zoro let go of Emily's shirt and spun her until she faced him. "Please tell me that they didn't touch you with that thing in the bag." Zoro pleaded.

Emily looked at the floor and let out a muttered, "They did."

Luffy reached into the bag and pulled out the thing that Emily claimed to be her worst enemy. Her worst enemy was a whip with five extra thick leather straps with pieces of thick thorns stuck to it for more pain.

Emily gasped and hid behind the closest person to her and shook in fear.

Zoro ran up to Emily and lifted her chin so she'd look into his eyes, "Oh God! Did your masters really beat you with that thing?"

Small streams of tears ran down Emily's cheeks. This time she didn't try to stop them even if it meant being beaten by him. Emily let out a soft nod.

Zoro stared for a while, praying that she was just joking with him, that this was a simple joke that Luffy talked her into doing. But after seeing her cry for a certain amount of time, he decided that it wasn't a joke. The anger inside of him was released, the anger for her masters beating her with this…_thing_.

Zoro grabbed the whip and stomped off to the top of the deck.

Emily followed him quietly and everyone else followed her. Zoro took a deep breath and called out for Umiryuu. Conveniently, the dragon came out and stood by the ship. Zoro looked back at Emily and took a deep breath after staring into her sad eyes.

He tossed the whip in the air and chopped it up into multiple small pieces with his three swords. Once he put the swords away, he handed Umiryuu the broken up whip, "Take these and hid it deep within the sea so nobody can find it. I don't want anyone to hurt another person with that like they did with Emily. EVER!"

Umiryuu nodded, took the whip, and disappeared deep within the sea.

Zoro looked back at Emily. Tears were gushing out of her eyes and she didn't move from her spot. Zoro was about to regret destroying the whip…until Emily flung herself to him and squeezed tightly. She was smiling and laughing. "Thank you, Master Zoro. You…destroyed the Hellraiser." Emily cried, not letting go of Zoro.

"The Hellraiser? You had a name for that thing?" Zoro asked Emily.

"I'm not the only person who called it that. Misao called it the Hellraiser too, because it hurts like Hell when we got beaten with it and we were scared as Hell of it." Emily answered.

"How long were you terrorized with it?"

"About 9 years. Since I was 3."

"Since you were 3? That long?"

"Well, I got a 3 year break from it when I joined the circus when I was 6."

"How did the whip find its way back to you when you quit the circus?"

"I don't know."

"Well…the Hellraiser is dead. Your 9 years of terror are over."

"Thank God."

Emily's arms were still around Zoro's waist and the tears were still flowing, but not quite as badly as before. Her smile was the largest she had given in years and it made him feel good, like how he felt years ago when he was able to cheer up Kuina after they made their promise to battle one day and be the best swordsperson in the world.

She clung to him like that and thanked him deeply for killing her worst enemy for at least an hour.

Zoro never moved or tried to shove her off himself and that pleased her.

After she let go, Emily half walked and half skipped into the ship.

Zoro calmly walked behind her. The smile on her face made the crew inside feel good and happy.

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Later that night, in the girl's bedroom, Robin sat on her bed holding a book in her lap and tried to bring on a conversation with Emily. Both her and Nami stared at Emily's back as she changed into a pair of old pajamas from Nami. They noticed a small green and blue tattoo on her side, but that didn't worry them. What worried them were large bruises around her waist and ribs.

"Emily? Did you get those bruises from falling out of your bed?" Nami asked, pointing at the bruises.

Emily blushed, shook her head, and slipped into a shirt to hid the bruises.

"How on earth did you get such deep bruises?" Robin asked the youngest girl.

Emily stared for a moment before whispering, "I…really don't wanna talk about it."

Robin and Nami didn't bother to ask her why. They knew it must have been from something bad.

FLASHBACK

"You little bitch! How dare you try escaping me!" A large and muscular man screamed at a small figure that he threw to the ground.

The small figure, Emily, cried out in pain as he jammed his feet into her side and stomach.

Two men from the house followed his example and punched and kicked her, ignoring her screams of pain.

"Please stop. I'm sorry, Master." Emily cried, unsuccessfully trying to block the blows to her body. She really prayed that she'd brought her boomerang with her even though she couldn't use it.

It wasn't that she wouldn't have any time to use it to knock the men out because she was quick enough, but if she attacked, her poor sister would have been punished for it.

Misao had been beaten severely with the Hellraiser two days before and the Master claimed that if one of the girls attacked him or his men, the other would be punished severely. And Misao was already in enough pain.

In fact, Misao was the reason that Emily was escaping her "home" in the first place.

Emily had taken a few berries and was planning on escaping into town for medicines for Misao since she was denied medicines for her beating. That, and she was deeply in pain. Emily got caught by the master as she climbed over the fence. Her leg was scraped as she was pulled to the ground.

Her only reward from escaping was a heavy beating from the Hellraiser and multiple kicks and punches. The men finally left and she stood up, ignoring the pain in her sides. She never noticed the master's four sons ganging up on her with metal rods until it was too late.

END FLASHBACK

Her injuries came from only six months ago and haven't gone away, no matter how much she tried to rest and treat the bruises. The only good thing about them was that none of Emily's ribs were broken or cracked and that after two days, she was able to walk again. She felt very little pain from her injuries along her ribs and waist, only if she lay on them for too long was when she felt the pain.

Not wanting to talk anymore, Emily climbed into her hammock and lay staring at the wall until her eyelids grew heavy.

Nami and Robin stared in shock as the girl climbed into her bed, ignoring the bruises as if they were never there.

In her sleep, they saw her twitch in pain, but not wake up. They eventually gave up and decided to fall asleep like she did. This was not a problem they wanted to talk about.

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_5th sun, 17th day of green lilies  
__(Thursday, May 17)_

_Miss Nami and Miss Robin saw my bruises last night. I didn't wanna talk about them though. I didn't want them to see my injuries and think I'm weak and leave me behind like Mama and Papa did. Miss Nami saws that tomorrow we'll be in Nanahana. Hopefully I won't be left behind there._

_0000000000_

The Straw Hat Pirates didn't get to Nanahana until two days after they expected to be due to an unexpected and unwanted visit from the Marines.

These Marines weren't with Colonel Smoker and Tashigi. These Marines only had eight come out of the ship, one for each of the pirates to attack, except there was one small problem…

"Hot Juice Bullets!" Usopp called, flinging one of his Mad Dog Peach Juice bullets into a nearby Marine's eyes.

The Marine went down and a Marine from inside the ship came out and took his place. That happened every time a Marine went down. Soon, the deck was full of Marines, attacking at the same exact time.

Everybody was attacking the Marines with everything they had, all but one person.

"Where's Emily? We really could use her attacks right now!" Luffy asked, hitting marine after marine with his rubber arms.

"She was exhausted after scrubbing the floor of the lounge, so I told her to go take a nap!" Zoro shouted, getting two nearby marines.

"Should I wake her up?" Nami asked, whacking a marine over the head with her rod.

Luffy didn't answer her.

Quickly, she ran to the girl's bedroom and looked at Emily's sleeping form. She felt guilty about having to wake up the sleeping girl, but this was an emergency. "Emily…Emily…wake up." Nami said, shaking Emily's shoulder, trying to avoid the bruises that she and Robin saw the night before.

Emily slowly opened her blue-green eyes and let out a yawn, "Miss…Nami?"

"Emily, we're being attacked by Marines and need your help in fighting them." Nami answered.

Emily hopped out of her hammock immediately, put her boomerang together, and followed Nami up to the deck. She looked from her boomerang and the marines and pushed a green button.

Closing her eyes, Emily randomly threw her boomerang into the air seven times, each time missing the marines.

"What are you doing, Emily? You're missing them!" Luffy shouted.

The buttons on her boomerang began to glow.

"Everyone! Get behind me! Hurry!" Emily shouted. The crew obeyed her. Emily hurled her boomerang at the clueless Marines and screamed, "Wind!"

It seemed as if the attack she did blew the marines away…literally. A huge gust of wind came from the boomerang and blew the marines and their ship far away. The boomerang found its way back into Emily's hands. The buttons were no longer glowing. The entire crew was staring in disbelief at her.

"You can control elements with that thing?" Nami asked nervously.

Emily shook her head, "All I can do is a big gust of wind. The other buttons let me do different attacks."

"What are the other attacks?" Chopper asked.

Emily took a deep breath, "The red button gives me the blade attack, the purple gives me the poison attack, but I don't use that one very often…"

"Why not?" Luffy asked.

"Because it requires me to use some blood to make the poison. The pink button is for giving illusions to the person it hits, the black button is for using energy from myself to the enemy, and the white button is for grabbing things from enemies that are too far away."

"Wow…"

Nami looked at her map, compass, and the sea then cried out. "What's wrong, Nami-san?" Sanji worriedly asked.

"We're…two days off course. It's going to take longer to get to Nanahana especially because of these rough waves!" Nami cried out.

Nobody else complained about being late…mostly because Luffy, Zoro, Robin, Chopper, and Usopp didn't care, Sanji didn't mind being on the waves with Nami and Robin, and Emily was too scared to complain.

0000000000

The ship that night was extremely rough and dangerous. Items fell off of shelves constantly, the crew members were falling down when they walked, and the Going Merry was jerking in every direction possible. When it was time for bed, Nami was actually considering on tying Emily to her bed to avoid having Emily fall onto her bruises and break a bone, but stopped herself.

To make it even safer for Emily, the crew fixed up a bed in the lounge so that if she fell, it'd only be a few inches and wouldn't be hurt. They even made sure that there were no items on any shelves around her.

At about 2am, the hardest jerk came and practically bounced the sleeping slave into the air about three feet and was going to have her land on the ground with a thud.

Luckily, Zoro was going to go up to the deck to take his shift. He saw her bounce up in the air and grabbed her before she hit the ground. To his surprise, Emily was still sleeping, as if nothing happened and didn't stir when he moved her back to her bed and re-covered her. He silently left for the top of the deck.

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The next morning, Emily awoke to Zoro's voice telling the crew about the jerk that brought Emily three feet in the air and being caught by him before hitting the ground. The crew laughed and she blushed deeply.

She couldn't believe that she slept through the entire thing. She knew she was a heavy sleeper, but she didn't know she would be able to sleep through something like that.

The crew ate breakfast mostly laughing and in silence. The silence was coming from Chopper and Emily. Once breakfast was done, the entire crew yet again spent their free time relaxing on the deck and trying to find a way to get to Nanahana quicker. For two chilled green apples, Umiryuu pulled the ship towards Nanahana…at least up to five miles away from town. And for a cheerful tune from Emily's flute, Umiryuu would protect the ship from Marines for three hours.

Once the three hours were up, Umiryuu said his good-bye and left the Going Merry. For the next few hours, the only thing that could be seen or smelt was the large, salty sea until that changed.

A new scent filled the air. The smell was strong and smoky and got even stronger as the ship got closer. Soon sounds joined the smell.

The sounds of fishermen with sailor mouths joined the smoky smell. Each fisherman was yelling at the other for some stupid reason like if one of the men used the wrong bait or ate and drank the wrong thing. The sailor talk just went back and forth constantly like bad mouthed parrots. The fishermen were so busy yelling at each other that they failed to notice the Going Merry passing them.

Once rid of the fishermen, the sea was the only thing to be seen although the smoky smell was still strong in the air.

Chopper was sitting in the crow's nest with a pair of binoculars on, staring straight forward for land. Eventually, the cry, "Land Ho!" was heard from Chopper's mouth. Immediately, the crew ran to the front of the ship to get a better look ahead of them.

Right in front of the Going Merry was the town of Nanahana, just like Chopper and Nami had said.

"Pull into port!" Luffy called out to his crew.

Everyone obeyed him and brought the sails into the direction in which they'd have needed to head into the town, into Nanahana.

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A/N: That's it so far. The name Nanahana means "seven flowers" in Japanese (Nana means 7, Hana means flower).Thank you everyone that reviewed my last chapter. Sorry if this chapter was a little boring, but I'm going to make the next one very entertaining. R/R if ya want, but don't flame me…please.


	4. Ryan and Emily, Friends or Enemies?

Ch.4: Ryan and Emily, Friends or Enemies?

Disclaimer- I don't own One Piece. But I do own Emily and I sort of own Mayor Turner and Ryan (I'll explain what I mean at the end of the chapter)

- - - - - - - -

_7th sun, 23rd day of green lilies  
__(Saturday, May 23)_

_The city of Nanahana doesn't seem any different from the other cities that I have been to. I guess that everybody's going to look down on me because I am a slave or I don't look or act like they do. I hoped that after beating a Marine in a contest would make me look like everyone else here, but it didn't. I guess this town only cares about how you look and act and not what you do…_

- - - - - - -

The city of Nanahana lay large in front of the ship that got closer. Most of the crew was excited about getting on land, but not Emily. If it was her decision, she'd stay on the sea forever. A small handful of people were walking around the port, talking and laughing like old friends. The ship pulled into port and dropped the anchor into the ocean to stop.

Nobody in the crew wanted to stay on the ship since everyone was anxious to get on the land, but somebody had to protect the ship from thieves so they did the best, safest, and easiest thing to decide who was going to stay: Rock, paper, scissors (Zoro wouldn't let Emily play because he felt she was too young to guard the ship by herself). Usopp was the loser.

Emily insisted on walking through Nanahana by herself with a handful of money she borrowed from Nami. She was denied her request at first by Nami, Sanji, and Robin. Zoro, on the other hand, believed that twelve was old enough to walk by herself…as long as she came back to the ship a few hours later. Emily thanked him and walked off. Meanwhile…

- - - - - - - -

"Well, I'm back at the dump." A somber looking boy complained.

A young woman standing behind him signed in annoyance, "Ryan. Can't you just be a little bit happy that you're coming here."

The boy looked at the woman, "It's not like I wanted to come here. I was forced to come…again."

"I was hoping that you'd be a little bit happier to come."

"I would be happier if I wasn't forced to come."

"Ryan, didn't you say that you wanted to join the Navy?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, you get to come here to Nanahana with the Marines to capture pirates…plus the music contest is going on again this year and I'm sure you'll win."

"Yeah whatever, Tashigi. You only want to be here because you heard that Roronoa Zoro is here and my dad made me come here with you."

The woman frowned at the sulking boy standing next to her. For being only thirteen, this kid was a real whiner. His father and her uncle, immediately shipped his son overseas with the Marines to work with his niece and capture his first pirate the second he heard Ryan say that he wanted to join the Marines. Ryan wasn't very happy to be forced to come or go to Nanahana. Being forced to do something was just something he didn't like.

Nanahana was not a place that he like being to either. The town was too small in his opinion and the people seemed pretty rude. It probably was because the townsfolk didn't much care for the Marines, but at least his name was known when he won the music contest that was held once a year. Ryan had won first place seven years in a row. But not really anybody cared because he stayed in town for a few days before returning home and never talked with anybody.

"The sign-up sheet for the music contest is inside the music shop. You remember where that is, right?" Tashigi asked her younger cousin.

"Duh." Ryan answered, walking down the empty streets.

Tashigi let out a long sigh as she watched Ryan walking alone, "I wonder how long he's going to be acting like this."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Emily walked down the streets, looking at the different shops and people of Nanahana. The shops seemed to fascinate her: the colors were like a rainbow, the buildings mashed together like the carts of the traveling circus she left three years ago, and the unusual names of the shops made her laugh. The people weren't so wonderful. All of them, especially the kids, stared at her and it began to really freak her out.

She stopped in front of a garden shop curiously to look at the flowers inside and smell the ones outside.

About 20 feet away from Emily, a blonde haired boy was walking and staring off into space. He was in such a deep trance that it only broke when he bumped into Emily and knocked both of them to the ground.

"Itai!" Emily cried out.

The boy stood up and stared down at the girl, "Watch where you're going! God, the nerve of you people!"

Emily stood up and stared into his face, "What do you mean, my people?"

"You people think you're better than me and look better, too! Well, I got news for you! I think you're one of the ugliest people here!" The boy yelled then stomped off.

"Am I…really ugly?" Emily asked herself. With the thought on her mind, Emily continued her business throughout Nanahana.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"You here for the music contest?" A tired man from behind a counter asked the boy standing in front of him.

Ryan looked at him, "Yeah that's right. Give me the application."

The man from behind the counter gave Ryan the application for the contest and pointed to a stage in the middle of town, "Fill these out, get a parent or guardian signature, and hand the application to the mayor. You got a song ready?"

Ryan took a deep breath, "Of course. I always to and that's how I always win."

The tired man yawned, "Whatever. Just go." Ryan nodded and left.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Not long after Ryan left the music store, Emily entered. She looked at everything being sold in fascination. Never before had she seen so many shiny instruments at the same time. She walked up to the man at the counter and asked, "Where are the music pieces for the flute?"

The man pointed at the end of the store and asked, "Are you picking out a piece for the music contest this afternoon?"

Emily stared in confusion, "What music contest?"

The man looked own at the green haired girl, "There is a music contest for kids between the ages of six to eighteen. You pick out a piece and play it in front of the town."

"How do I enter?" Emily asked the man.

"You take this application, fill it out, get a parent or guardian signature, and hand the applications to the mayor at the stage in the middle of town before 3:00."

"Wow…does it cost money to enter?"

"Nope. It's free. But you can get money as a prize if you win."

"I wanna enter."

"Excellent. Here is your application. All you need is a piece."

The man handed Emily the application with a smile. Emily walked to the music pieces and searched for the right songs. She grabbed three pieces: one easy, one moderate, and one hard was going to pay for them when she saw another piece that seemed just right. It was fast, full of difficult notes, and it was full of accidentals. "This one. I'm playing this one." Emily announced to the man at the counter.

The man stared at her in disbelief, "This one? Are you sure?"

Emily nodded, "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing…it's just that nobody has been able to play that song through without screwing up for almost 40 years." The man answered.

"I'll be the first then." Emily announced.

The man sighed, "All right. 700 berries is your total." Emily paid for her pieces and left.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"Hey! Can I get you to sign this?" Ryan asked Tashigi, holding up his application.

Tashigi nodded and added her signature to the application. "You should really be a little nicer, Ryan. Because this year somebody might actually beat you in the contest." Tashigi told the boy, handing back his application.

Ryan laughed, "Yeah right. I've won seven years in a row. Why would I lose now?" With that, he left laughing as if he told the funniest joke in the world.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Emily found Zoro outside a weapon shop with Luffy and Chopper. "Master Zoro? May I enter the music contest this afternoon?" She asked, running up to Zoro. In her mind she prayed that he'd say 'yes', and he did. After giving him a quick hug, Emily ran towards the Going Merry. Once in the ship, Emily grabbed a pen and bottle of ink that Misao had given her in Yokuna and filled out the application.

She finished and brought the paper, pen, and ink to Zoro and asked him to sign the paper. He signed the paper then looked them over. "Emily." He started, "You didn't fill out one of your questions all the way." Emily didn't say anything. "You have to put down your last name. What is it?" Zoro asked.

Emily shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. I wasn't given a last name in my homes and was never told what mine was that my parents gave me."

Zoro looked at Emily and asked, "Is there a nickname for you that you liked?"

"Yes. In the circus, I was called 'Emily the Emerald'." Emily answered.

"Then we can make 'Emerald' be your last name for now. Is that okay?" Zoro asked.

Emily nodded and filled in her new last name.

Zoro look the application from her and double checked it. He handed it back to her, "Go turn in your application, Emerald Emily."

Emily nodded and ran to the middle of town.

Zoro watched Emily as she disappeared down the empty streets. "Why am I acting like this?" Zoro wondered.

"Hey Zoro. The contest is in two hours. Are you going to watch it?" Luffy asked his crew mate.

At first, Zoro was going to say 'no', but thought of how upset Emily would be if he wasn't there. He nodded.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"Excuse me? Is this where we turn in our applications?" Emily asked a tall, bald man at the stage.

The man looked at the girl and nodded, "This is it. I'm Mayor Turner and I'll be judging the contest." He took the applications and scanned them, "Emerald Emily…strange name. Age twelve? You sure? You look nine…plays flute…song is…**The Enchanted Savior**? Are you sure?"

Emily nodded, "I can do it."

Mayor Turner shrugged, "All right. The contest starts in two hours, but try and be here a half an hour earlier with your instrument." Emily nodded and walked off.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Nami walked down the streets holding a large white bag. There were no wallets in the bag, but new clothes instead. Clothes of the latest fashion and extremely expensive in Nanahana. Each step she took had another girl walking towards her until they both collided into each other. "Ouch! Watch where you're going!" Nami yelled at the girl she banged into.

"Why don't you?" The girl asked.

Nami stared at the elegantly dressed girl in front of her in anger, "You bumped into me!"

"Yeah, whatever." The girl muttered before walking passed Nami.

"God, what a bitch." Nami muttered and continued on her way.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

At 2:30, all the participants of the contest stood behind the stage with their music and instruments. It seemed as if each participant had a different instrument: guitars, pianos, flutes, xylophones, saxophones, and many more were mashed together with their owners.

Ryan looked at all the kids and stopped at Emily, "Great. Now that ugly green-haired girl is here, too."

The half hour was spent with the participants getting to know each other and tune up their instruments. Ryan spent the entire time staring at Emily with hate in his eye. The hate grew deeper when he saw a piano player walk up to Emily and ask what she'd be playing.

Emily answered and the pianist laughed, "Yeah, right. That song hasn't been played right in 40 years. Even people who practiced it for years haven't gotten close to playing it perfectly."

"I can do it." Emily told the pianist.

"Really? How many times have you practiced the song?"

"Two."

"And when did you get the piece?"

"An hour and a half ago."

"Ha! You're going to blow it big time!"

The pianist left Emily and a large crowd stood outside of the stage. Mayor Turner told the participants to get ready to play and turned to the rather large audience. The first people that were going to play were the two piano players. The first was an eight-year-old boy who was good, but got nervous and missed a note or two. The other player, Kazeo Hikimasu(the pianist that laughed at Emily) was fourteen and messed up big time.

After the pianists, the rest went in order of age. The youngest, a seven-year-old boy, went first.

Emily was in the middle of the line and so far, only two people were actually able to play their songs without messing up or getting nervous.

Mayor Turner introduced Emily to the crowd and listened to them laugh when they heard the song she'd play.

Emily put her piece on the music stand and looked into the crowd. Sure enough, the entire Straw Hat Pirates crew was there, far from the Marines.

Emily smiled, put her flute to her lips, and began to play. Each note came out perfectly, the speed was perfect, and nothing was ignored. At the end, she bowed and the crowd stared at her in disbelief. The song that hadn't been played right in 40 years had just been played by a small twelve-year-old girl. Then everyone cheered for her.

Ryan was after Emily. He forced a fake smile on his face and put his fingers on the strings of his guitar and started to play. He played the song perfectly as Emily had done with hers, but his playing was missing something: feeling. Sure everything was perfect, but what was the point of listening to a song if you couldn't feel it? He was applauded greatly by the audience when he finished and walked off the stage, giving Emily a smirk.

Once behind the stage with all the other participants, Ryan looked over at Emily and said rudely, "I'm Glory Ryan. I'm sure you've heard of me other than just a few minutes ago."

Emily shook her head, "Never heard of you before in my life." Hey, it was the truth.

"Well, I've won this contest seven years in a row…" Ryan started.

"Congratulations."

"…and I'm not going to lose this year to a little nine-year-old flutist."

"Twelve."

"What?"

"I'm not nine, I'm twelve."

"Sure you are, little girl. When you see me beat you, you're going to be crying like the little girl you are. And you won't be lying to me about your age anymore."

"I won't cry. And I'm not lying."

"Sure you aren't, kid."

With that, he walked away from Emily laughing. She couldn't believe what he said about her, but now she'd have to wait for the rest of the participants to play their songs and find out the winner. On the left side of the room was a sheet with the prizes for the best three and which place they were in:

**3rd place: 500,000 berries  
****2nd place: 1 million berries  
****1st place: 10 million berries**

Emily's eyes widened. 10 million berries! She'd never seen so much money before, not even 1 million berries. She closed her eyes and just imagined Mayor Turner handing her even just 1 million berries saying that all of it was hers, every single berry. But then she opened her eyes and shook off the thought. The dream seemed too far-fetched to be real.

"And now, our winners. When I call your name, please step outside to receive your prize." Mayor Turner called, "In 3rd place, the winner is Miki Mori." As soon as her name was called, the seventeen-year-old violinist walked on stage to receive her 500,000 berries and stood at the side of the stage holding her violin.

Mayor Turner turned towards the audience, "It was very hard to choose our next winners since both were excellent with their playing and came close to a tie, but nevertheless, we do have a first and second place. In second place, the winner is…Glory Ryan."

Ryan's mouth dropped. He…lost the contest he'd always won. He walked onstage with his guitar and collected his 1 million berries.

Once Ryan stood next to Miki, Mayor Turner continued his announcement, "And finally, our first place winner and owner or 10 million berries…Emerald Emily." At first Emily couldn't believe that she won and Ryan couldn't believe that he lost to Emily, but it happened. Emily quickly walked onstage with her flute. Mayor Turner handed her a blue bag with the money inside, all 10 million berries.

The crowd cheered and applauded loudly for the three winners. Mayor Turner had Miki, Ryan, and Emily stand on three steps with the places in ascending order and took a picture. The crowd was now disappearing and so was the crew of the Going Merry, probably hiding from the Marines.

Emily stepped off her step and put her flute away in its case. Carefully, she put her flute case in the bag of money and started walking from the stage with the bag carefully balanced on her back.

Guilt formed inside Ryan as he watched Emily walk alone, carrying that heavy bag. The urge to help her exploded inside of him when another boy his age shoved Emily to the ground.

"Hey! You should know that somebody like you shouldn't be far from their masters!" The boy yelled, shoving her into a mud puddle when she tried to stand. "People like you are an embarrassment to hard-working people like my father." The boy shouted at her.

"Please…leave me alone." Emily pleaded, trying to stand.

The boy shoved her down again and said, "Make me, slave!"

That was all Ryan could take. He knew that the people here were cruel, but he didn't expect a boy his age being cruel to a girl almost 1/3 his size.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Ryan yelled at the other boy.

"Why don't you come over here and make me?" the boy told Ryan.

Ryan didn't need to be told twice. Back in his hometown, he was pretty aggressive and hardly ever turned down a challenge. Ryan pulled out his wooden sword and ran after the boy.

The boy ran away after being hit five times by Ryan's sword. Ryan put his sword away and helped Emily to her feet.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked Emily.

Emily nodded and picked up her bag, "Thank you."

Ryan looked at her, "I'm sorry about how I acted to you at the contest…and before then."

"It's okay." Emily answered.

"Hey, that bag looks pretty heavy. Would you like me to help you carry it home?" Ryan asked.

Emily hesitated for a moment, but nodded, "Okay."

Ryan grabbed one side of the bag while Emily grabbed the other and started walking. "So…you really are twelve years old?" Ryan asked Emily.

Emily looked at him and giggled, "Yes, I really am twelve."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Straw Hat Pirates minus Emily were now seated in the lounge of the Going Merry.

"She won. Emily won just like I told her to." Usopp announced.

"Liar! You didn't even know about the contest until 20 minutes before she got to play. You didn't even talk to her about it." Zoro told him.

"Hey! Let's have a huge feast in celebration of the contest. We can cook all of Emily's favorite foods!" Luffy shouted.

"Uhhh…Luffy…do you even know what her favorite foods are?" Sanji asked his captain.

"Sure, those green things." Luffy answered.

Nami let out a sigh, "Baka. We can't feed her green apples only at a feast. We need other things."

"Well, she does eat everything that we make for her, so you really shouldn't worry about it." Robin announced.

"I suppose you're right." Sanji sighed while looking through the fridge.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"My father sent me overseas with my cousin so I could train with her. He's been forcing me to do things I don't want to do my while life. That's why I'm in a bad mood." Ryan told Emily.

Emily nodded, "I know how you feel. I've always been forced to places when I don't want to."

"So, you don't live in Nanahana." Ryan asked her.

Emily shook her head, "I'm not anything like the people here."

"Hey, I gotta question for you."

"What is it?"

"Why did you play that song at the contest?"

"It seemed easy and fun. Why do you ask?"

"The man who wrote down the notes said that it was a song that only him and the Almani could play."

"Ryan, what are the Almani?"

"Didn't your parents tell you about the Almani people?"

"My parents didn't have the time to tell me stories."

"Well, the Almani people came from a forest where fairies, pixies, and other magical things lived. None of the people were allowed to leave the forest."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I guess because they were afraid of the outside world. But anyway, they allowed outsiders to visit them and always played that song because they believed it was magical."

"Really? What were so great about the Almani?"

"I'm not sure about everything, but they could grow angel wings out of their backs and fly, they could send visions into other's heads of their own past, and had secret powers that nobody but them knew about. And they were supposed to be really powerful."

"Wow."

"They were wiped out 15 years ago."

"Why?"

"People got tired of the secrets and thought that killing the Almani would let them have all the secrets to themselves, but it did no good."

"How come?"

"The Almani had a special writing that only they could understand and since they were gone, the secrets were useless."

"Oh, how sad."

"That's all I know. You'd have to read from some old legend books to find more information about them. By the way, why are you in Nanahana?"

"My group stopped here for supplies."

"What do you do?"

"I guess you could say that I'm a traveling musician. What about you?"

"I'm with the Marines."

Emily gasped. The Marines! They would kill her if they knew she was a pirate. And she wouldn't bear it if she had to do battle against Ryan, whom she just made friends with. "Ummm…I can carry my bag home the rest of the way." Emily told Ryan.

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked.

Emily nodded and put her bag over her shoulder, "Yeah. I can't bring any boys home or my…over-protective older brother will kill both of us."

"Well, okay. See ya." Ryan told her. "I'm sure we'll meet again. Good-bye." Emily told him.

Ryan headed for town while Emily headed towards the Going Merry. Once Ryan was out of sight, a hand grabbed Emily's arm and a gruff voice asked, "Were you going to bring a boy home to meet your over-protective older brother?"

"Oh, sorry Master Zoro." Emily apologized.

Zoro laughed, "That's a good one, Emily."

"I'm sorry, Master Zoro." Emily whispered.

"Huh? For what?" Zoro asked.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Ryan stopped walking and thought of Emily. She seemed scared of her older brother, so he thought he'd protect her from her brother if he was that bad. Ryan turned and ran towards Emily's direction, hoping to find his new friend. He did find her, but not they way he wanted to find her.

Emily was walking next to THE Roronoa Zoro, the man Tashigi was hunting down. They were talking and Zoro was holding her bag.

"About lying, saying that I was a traveling musician." Emily told Zoro.

"It was necessary, Emily." Zoro answered.

"Yes, but I feel bad not telling him that I am a pirate." Emily said.

Ryan had heard enough. He almost punched himself for making friends with her and apologizing about how he acted.

He quickly ran off before hearing the rest of the conversation.

"Don't worry about it." Zoro told Emily.

"But…Marines and pirates can't be friends." Emily muttered.

"That's a lie! Luffy's friend, Coby is a Marine and they're still friends." Zoro told her.

"Really?" Emily asked. Zoro nodded. "Then I don't feel too bad." Emily told him.

- - - - - - - - - -

"You're back already?" Nami asked Emily.

"And she made a new friend…with a marine." Zoro told her.

"Really?" Chopper asked Emily.

Emily nodded and put her bag in her bedroom.

Robin was sitting on her bed reading. The facts about the Almani that Ryan told her was playing repeatedly in her head and since Robin was almost always reading, she might know about them.

"Miss Robin?" Emily asked the woman.

Robin looked up from her book, at Emily, "Yes?"

"Ummm…do you know anything about the Almani people?" Emily asked.

Robin thought for a moment then shook her head, "Sorry, but I don't."

"Oh, thanks anyway." Emily said.

Robin stopped her as she began to leave the room, "But there is a bookstore in town. Maybe you can find some information on the Almani people there."

Emily nodded, "Thanks, Miss Robin."

Emily grabbed some money and stepped into the lounge. Everyone inside pretended to look busy, as if they were trying to hide something from Emily. "Master Zoro? Is it all right if I stop by the bookstore for a while?" Emily asked Zoro.

Zoro nodded, "Just be back before sunset."

Emily nodded and left for the town bookstore.

- - - - - - - - - -

Ryan growled and stomped off towards the port, looking for Emily. He was told that if he caught a true pirate and brought it to his cousin, then he'd automatically be in the Marines and have a good rank. And that would be pretty sweet for a thirteen-year-old like him. He spotted Emily standing in front of the bookstore and he immediately ran to her.

"Oh, hi Ryan." Emily said calmly.

Ryan frowned, "It's good to see you again…pirate."

Emily paused in fear.

Without saying anything else, Ryan grabbed her hand and practically drug her to his boat, where the Marines all sat. He pulled Emily out in the middle of the group.

"Ah, Ryan. Is this your new friend?" Tashigi asked her cousin.

"No, this is a pirate." Ryan announced to the Marines.

Colonel Smoker looked at Ryan, "Hey kid, I know you're in a bad mood and you hope this will get you in a good one, but this girl is not a pirate."

"Yes she is. She's Roronoa Emily." Ryan argued.

"Roronoa? Like Roronoa Zoro?" Tashigi asked.

"Yes, she's his little sister." Ryan answered.

"My last name isn't Roronoa, it's Emerald. And I'm not related to Roronoa Zoro." Emily answered calmly.

"Don't believe her. I know she's a pirate!" Ryan shouted.

Smoker sighed, "Kid, this girl is too young to be a pirate. Little nine year olds…"

"Twelve. I'm 12." Emily interrupted.

Smoker ignored her, "Are not experienced enough to be pirates."

"Besides," Tashigi said, "She's way too well behaved to be a pirate."

"You're only saying that because she looks so innocent, but she is a pirate! She really is!" Ryan cried.

"That's enough, Ryan! This little girl is not a pirate." Tashigi shouted before turning to Emily, "Little girl, we're sorry to have this happen to you."

"It's all right." Emily told her before heading towards the door.

"Do you need someone to walk you home?" Tashigi asked.

Emily shook her head, "Thanks, but I'll be fine. Good-bye."

"You see, Ryan. She was not a pirate." Smoker said to the teenage boy in front of him.

"But she was a pirate! She was!" Ryan shouted.

All the marines laughed loudly.

Ryan stomped off to his room in anger and slammed the door behind him. The laughter continued.

- - - - - - -

On her way back to the Going Merry, Emily went back to the bookstore and bought a book of old legends and ancient, magical animals and people. She couldn't wait to read the chapter of the Almani people. She stepped into the ship and gasped. On the table in the lounge sat plates and plates of food, almost like a feast.

"What?" Emily asked.

"We're having a feast!" Luffy announced, "In celebration of you winning the music contest."

"R-really?" Emily asked. The crew nodded. "Wow…thanks. Just let me drop something off in my room." Emily said. She walked off to her room and put her book on her hammock. The Almani cold wait, her crew mates couldn't.

She sat in the lounge and food started being passed around.

"So, what did you do today after the contest, Emily?" Nami asked Emily.

"I got captured by a Marine then freed because the others believed I was too innocent to be a pirate." Emily answered. The crew laughed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Okay, that's what I got so far. The reason why I sort of own Ryan is because Ryan is a real person. He is a friend of mine who wants to join the Navy. Mayor Turner is sort of mine because I'm describing my Algebra 2 teacher. And with the name "Kazeo Hikimasu", it means "I'll catch a cold" (spelled Kaze o Hikimasu) and I thought it would be perfect for a snotty girl. R/R if ya want, but don't flame me please.


	5. Marines and a Slave Stuck in a Cave

Ch.5: Marines and a Slave Stuck in a Cave

Disclaimer- One Piece isn't mine…and I've come to the conclusion that I own none of the characters of this story except Emily.

- -

_2nd sun, 21st day of Pearl Roses  
__(Monday, June 21)_

_I had a nightmare last night. A man and a woman holding each other's hands, were running from a large forest. From behind them, a large group of people were screaming at them to come back, but the man and woman kept running. Then everything turned black. Not too long afterwards, the man and woman were in a cabin, their new home I think. They had a little boy with them, looking into a cradle. They were happy…until a large group of people with weapons entered and screaming came…_

- - - - - - -

Emily woke up with a gasp and sat up in her hammock. The nightmare she just had really scared her, almost as bad as some of the memories of her past did. She was breathing really hard, trying to forget the dream she just had. Emily looked around the room, checking the time and if she woke up Nami and Robin. It was 4am, the sun was not rising, and Robin and Nami were soundly sleeping.

Emily laid back in her bed and tried to get back to sleep, but couldn't. The nightmare had completely woken her up, preventing her from sleeping. She stepped out of her hammock and changed quickly into a pair of clothes before leaving for the deck. The sea air would probably calm her down. She tiptoed across the boards of the ship as quickly and quietly as she possibly cold to avoid waking anyone else up.

The door to the entrance of the ship slowly opened and creaked. Quickly, Emily stepped outside and closed the door to avoid the cold night air entering the ship. She softly walked to the side of the ship and stared into the sea.

The tranquil waves of the sea softly beat and rocked the ship and the cold air chilled her cheeks and that's what she used to fall asleep to when she was younger, but it just wouldn't work. The nightmare kept playing in her head.

"What are you doing out here?" A voice from the crow's nest called out to her.

Emily jumped and stared at the crow's nest. She didn't say anything.

Zoro looked down at her, "Couldn't sleep?"

Emily shook her head and answered, "No. I had a nightmare and thought that the sea would help get me sleepy."

Zoro didn't say anything after that and Emily continued to stare off into the wide, open sea.

She stared for two hours at the waves and didn't get tired. The sun was now starting to rise, but she couldn't get to sleep. Umiryuu came up to the surface and talked to her for a while, but still she couldn't get to sleep. Of course she didn't really want to now for everyone would have to be waking soon for breakfast and work. And Emily would only be given two hours at the most to sleep.

- - - - - - -

At 7:00, Nami opened her eyes and looked around the room.

Robin was still sleeping and Emily was nowhere to be found. It didn't really bother her, though. Emily was not her responsibility and the girl would have nowhere off the ship to run to. Not like she would have wanted to anyway, Nami would tell and so could the rest of the crew.

A delicious smell from the kitchen found its way around the ship.

Nami quickly dressed and woke up Robin for breakfast. Within twenty minutes, the entire Straw Hat Pirates were seated at the table in the lounge eating the breakfast that Sanji had prepared.

"Hey, Nami? Are we nearby a town?" Luffy asked with a full mouth.

Nami put a disgusted look on her face and replied, "No. But we are three days away from an island that doesn't seem to have a name."

Luffy swallowed his food, "Then let's go to the island!"

"What?" Nami asked.

"I wanna go to the island! I wanna go on an adventure!" Luffy announced.

Nami let out a long sigh, "All right. We'll go to the island." She really didn't feel like arguing so early in the morning.

- - - - - - -

"Well, Ryan. We're getting some new recruits on this boat from boat 88213." Tashigi told her sullen cousin.

Ryan didn't say anything. He'd been bummed out since Emily was set free almost a month ago, but he promised himself that he would get her.

Tashigi heard the sound of boat 88213 come by to drop off the recruits, two of them, and dragged Ryan up to the deck.

A large smile formed on Ryan's face when he saw the recruits, his two best friends.

"Here are your new recruits: Himura Kim and Uchiha Kelly." The captain of the boat said to Smoker.

The girls immediately walked over to Ryan and started talking of what happened since they'd been separated from him.

"You're not going to believe this", Ryan told his friends.

"What?" Kim and Kelly asked excitedly.

"I captured my first pirate." Ryan said smiling.

Kim and Kelly both squealed in joy.

"Oh my gosh! Where is the pirate? Is it here?" Kim asked.

Ryan frowned, "No. My cousin didn't believe that she was a real pirate and let her go." He didn't mention that it was a month ago.

Kelly looked at Ryan, "Don't worry about it. We'll help you capture her."

"After all, we are your best friends." Kim finished.

Ryan smiled, "Thanks. That really cheers me up."

- - - - -

"Umiryuu, have you ever heard of the Almani?" Emily asked the sea dragon, who was following the ship. She read the book she bought in Nanahana, but didn't know very much about them. She didn't know why, but ever since Ryan told her about the Almani, she had to know more about them.

"I haven't heard of them," Umiryuu answered.

"Oh." Emily mumbled.

"Because I've seen and talked to them." Umiryuu told her.

Emily's eyes widened, "You did? What did they look like?"

"Last time I saw them, a small group was flying around on angel wings freely and with smiles." Umiryuu said.

Emily looked confused, "Wait, I thought they weren't allowed to leave the forest."

"They weren't." Umiryuu told her, "I used to enter the forest through a river in it connecting to the sea. It was blocked off 15 years ago when the Almani were eliminated."

Emily didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say to him. There were so many questions that plagued her mind about the Almani, almost too many. She didn't have time to ask him one of the questions.

Umiryuu told her that he had to go then disappeared into the sea before she had the chance to ask him one of her questions.

- - -

A woman sat at a desk, her hand on a large orb. "Is there any living Almani in the world?" She asked in her head. The woman lifted her hand and the orb glowed a deep green. "I knew it! I knew there was another alive! Now all I have to do is find it." The woman cried out. In her head, she was disappointed. Her orb that she used would only answer yes or no questions with colors and nothing else.

Shaking and screaming came from outside of the room. The woman put her hands on the orb to avoid it from crashing to the ground. The door busted open and two girls ran into the room screaming.

"Mother! Tell Sabrina to give me the magic mirror!" The younger screamed.

"Forget it! You spent two days looking into it at your fat body. I deserve the chance to look into it." The elder screamed at her sister.

A vein started to pop on the woman's head as she yelled at them, "Lyssa! Sabrina! Stop it! Just give me the damn mirror!"

"But Mother…" the girls whined.

The items all over her room started going berserk. Bottles exploded, bookshelves shook, and cards and papers flew violently around the room. The girls shook, but gave their mother the mirror. Then they left the room for their own.

The woman looked into the mirror and saw a beautiful woman with silky brown curls and sparkling hazel eyes. Her face was smooth and her lips were cherry red. But that picture was a lie. That was the mother, but it also wasn't. The magic mirror only showed the person who looked into it how they wanted to look. The real mother was extremely ugly with filthy, greasy brown and gray hair and dull hazel eyes. Her face was plagued with wrinkles and her lips were pale.

In the beginning, the woman looked exactly how she wanted to, but not anymore. In fact, not many people liked her since the beginning. The woman was psycho, greedy, and cruel and her two daughters (aged 17 and 19) were just as bad as she was. All their attitudes got worse since they all ate the Devil Fruits. The mother ate the Psycho Psycho Fruit, which matched her attitude and could cause anything she wanted to go psycho or berserk. The eldest, Sabrina, ate the Ugly Ugly Fruit, which could make anything around her become ugly. The youngest, Lyssa, ate the Fatass Fatass Fruit, which could have her gain extra layers of fat to block her from attacks, but she cold always shrink down to her original weight, which was 300 lbs.

The woman had been the one to destroy all the Almani that everyone knew about 15 years ago plus a few others three years later that very few knew about. All those years ago, she tried to steal the Almani secrets, but was unsuccessful. Yet, she was positive that at least one Almani was still living and now her special orb had proved that she was right. All she needed to do was capture that one Almani.

- - -

_7th sun, 26th day of pearl roses  
__(Saturday, June 26)_

_Our ship came to this large island two days ago. And after one day, our "adventure" started turning into a nightmare. And it's nothing like the nightmare I've been having for the past few days. No, this nightmare is scarier because it is real. The weather is so bad that we can'' take our ship out to sea. I hate to admit it, but I'm afraid of this island, everything on here scares me, but I can't leave…_

- -

The Going Merry landed on the large island three days after Emily talked to Umiryuu about the Almani. The island was completely uninhabited with people. The only things on the island were animals and plants. The animals were dangerous ones, too. The only good thing about the island was that the lush green made the island look beautiful.

Within the first few hours of being in the forest, dangerous fights erupted between the pirates and the animals. It took a lot of energy and strength to take down one of the animals, and once one went down, another took its place. The crew was suddenly surrounded by the animals and had no choice but to run from them. Each crew member ran as fast as they possibly could, stopping look back and see if anyone was left behind.

Emily was the farthest behind. She was struggling to run, her hands were at her sides, and her face was covered in pain.

"Emily, run!" Zoro yelled at Emily as he saw the monsters running up to her.

Emily tried to go faster, but couldn't. The pain was just getting too bad. She couldn't stand it anymore. Before she could do anything else, she started to fall to the ground.

Zoro dashed to the falling slave and caught her in his arms before she hit the ground and started running towards the ship.

Emily whimpered and apologized for being so slow before she fell unconscious in her new master's arms.

Zoro quickly brought her into the Going Merry and gently put her on the couch in the lounge. "What happened? Why couldn't she run?" Zoro asked out loud.

Robin sighed and walked up to the unconscious girl, "Zoro, I think you should see this." She then quickly lifted up Emily's shirt to reveal the deep bruises, which got darker and larger and worse than last time.

"What the hell? How?" Zoro asked in shock.

Robin took a deep breath, "Nami and I found the bruises almost a month ago before we went to bed. Emily didn't tell us how she got such terrible bruises and begged us not to tell anyone about them."

"Besides, these bruises look worse than the last time I saw them." Nami included.

Zoro shook his head and muttered, "Emily…"

Chopper stood next to Zoro and started examining Emily's bruises with his hoof. After a minute, he shook his head.

"What's wrong with her?" Zoro asked the small reindeer.

"I have medicine to cure the bruises, but I also have to do an operation on her."

"An operation? Why?" Zoro asked.

Chopper looked at him, "I need to get a better look at her bruises and her sides. And to do that, I need to give her an operation." Zoro hesitated, but agreed.

Zoro lifted up the still unconscious Emily and carried her to her room. Usopp, Nami, Robin, and Chopper followed him. Usopp placed a table into the room and left. Nami and Robin covered the table with clean sheets and a pillow. Zoro softly put her onto the table and left the room, only returning to bring in a bowl of water and basket of clean rags, but left afterwards.

Chopper opened up his special doctor's bag and pulled out a shot full of anesthetic. He stuck the needle into her hand and released the anesthetic into her body. He didn't want her to wake up during the operation. He looked over at Nami and Robin and ordered them to hold her still in case her body started to move during the operation and cause him to do something wrong.

He then put the shot back in the bag and pulled out a small knife and made his first cut into the little girl's skin (Nami and Robin removed all of Emily's clothing but her underwear to make it easier for Chopper to get to the bruises). Only a tiny bit of blood came out, but he cleaned it with a clean rag. The first thing Chopper wanted to have a look at was Emily's ribs.

As he expected, there was definitely something wrong with them. Two of them were fractured. Gently, he took care of the fractured bones. His next objective was to check on her waist. To his surprise, every single bone along her waist was covered with bruises. It had been a while since he saw a bone bruised, but he knew what to do about it. He doused every bruise with one of the strongest medicines he had gently.

The next thing he did was stitch up the cuts he made in her quickly and carefully. He put some medicine and ice on the large bruises. After bandaging up her waist and ribs, he started putting his medicines away.

Nami and Robin put a loose pair of clothes on Emily and carefully placed her back on the table.

- - - - - -

It had been a whole day since Emily's operation before she awoke from her deep sleep. She started to sit up and only felt a tiny bit of pain, but was pushed back to her table.

"Careful, you need to rest for a few more days." Zoro said with her hand on her shoulder,

"How did you get such deep bruises?" Emily blushed, "I got the minor injuries from one of my later masters for trying escape. My really bad ones came when his sons beat me with metal rods."

Zoro didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say.

She seemed to have gone through a lot of pain and suffering, both physical and emotional, in her life…and she was only twelve.

The door to the bedroom suddenly opened and in the doorway stood both Sanji and Chopper. Sanji was holding a tray of food. Chopper came up to Emily and gently pressed his hoof on one of Emily's bruises, "Does this hurt?"

Emily winced, "A little."

Chopper quickly undid her bandages and gasped. Almost every bruise was gone and the ones that were left weren't deep at all and would heal within a day. There was something weird about her. With his medicines alone, it would take a week to completely heal the bruises. Chopper looked at Emily, "You will be able to move around by tomorrow, but until then…don't try to move around." Then he left.

Sanji walked up to the small girl and placed the tray on her legs and helped her sit up.

Her eyes widened and a smile formed on her face when she saw all the food in front of her. She timidly picked up a fork and started to eat what lay on the tray. She finished eating and Sanji brought the tray back to the kitchen after whispering in Emily's ear, "Don't say anything to upset Nami-san."

Emily was confused. 'What does he mean?'

- - - - - -

Ryan, Kim, and Kelly were standing on the Marine's ship practicing swordsmanship(Kim was better than Ryan and Kelly). The sea was calm, the air was calm, but the sky was a bit cloudy. They brought the swords down in front of them one final time before a huge gust of wind knocked them back. They stood up and looked around them. The air and sea were no longer quiet, waves were jerking the ship around, and the sky was covered with darkening clouds.

Smoker and Tashigi ran up to the three of them.

"Glory! Himura! Uchiha! Get inside NOW!" Smoker yelled.

The three of them didn't need to be told twice for they knew what happened if you refused to follow Smoker's orders. The three of them sat in Kim and Kelly's room, grabbing hold of the bedposts to avoid being thrown around the room.

They heard the yelling from the top of the deck as the older marines struggled to keep the boat afloat. Rain was heavily falling on top of the ship and thunder was roaring from outside. One large wave smacked against the floor of Kim and Kelly's room and opened up a hole. The girls screamed and pushed their hands against the hole to block out the water. Ryan joined them.

The water stopped flowing when the ship landed with a thud on the uninhabited island. The yelling form the deck stopped and Kim and Kelly's bedroom door opened. In the doorway stood Tashigi and Smoker. Their hair and clothes were completely soaked form the rain.

"What happened?" Ryan asked his cousin.

Tashigi sighed, "Because of the weather, we're stuck on this island."

Kim, Kelly, and Ryan groaned. How could things get any worse?

- - -

A crashing sound came from the sky followed by heavy drops of water, even though the water had been going all day. A strike of thunder struck and tree nearby the Going Merry. The tree collapsed onto the ship, making a huge hole in the side…and Emily didn't even know about it. She at first thought the sudden crash was just Luffy running around the kitchen, so she didn't bother to ask and nobody told her of what happened to the ship or that they'd be stuck on this horrible island.

-

The mother was sitting in her room, reading a large book when the door opened. She looked up in annoyance and saw one of her workers, "Yes, what is it?"

"Lady Pam," the worker said, "This package just came for you." He thrusted the package into the woman's hands and left the room, afraid that she may use her powers on him. She had done it before.

The door closed and Pam opened the package in her lap. Her eyes widened. Inside the package was a glass ball the size of a soccer ball. She grabbed the ball and stand and brought it to her desk. She put her hands on the ball and chanted, "Oh, spirit of this glass ball. Awaken and answer my call." The ball glowed yellow and the face of a dark haired boy with brown eyes appeared.

"Spirit, what is your name?" Pam asked.

"My name is Mark," the boy answered, "Is there something you need, Pam?"

"Do you know everything that goes on?" Pam asked.

"I do."

"What things that will happen?"

"I do not see the future."

"Do you know about the final living Almani?"

"I do."

"Are they old?"

"No."

"Young?"

"Very."

"How many are left?"

"Just one."

"Describe it."

"The final Almani is a little girl the age of 12. Her hair is emerald green and just an inch or so past her shoulders. Her eyes are blue-green. She has lived a very cruel life and knows nothing about who she is."

"Wait, 12 years old? How could I have missed her 12 years ago?"

"You did indeed go to her home 12 years ago to kill her family, but you failed to look inside the cradle that held a sleeping baby, who was rescued by pirates after you left."

"Dammit! How could I have missed her? No matter. Ow I know what she looks like. You make go now, Mark."

Mark sighed and his face disappeared. Pam smirked. With that new glass ball, it was going to be a lot easier to capture that final Almani.

- - -

The sun rose and a new day for the two ships on the uninhabited island. The weather was perfect, but none of the two ships on the island could leave. On the Marine's boat, two strikes of thunder were made into it, but luckily the boat still floated and nobody was hurt.

There really wasn't anything for Kim, Kelly, and Ryan to do since they were pretty much limited to what they COULD do and all the adults were fixing the ship. So they got permission from Tashigi and Smoker to take a walk on the island…as long as they brought their swords with them and didn't wander too far from the ship. The three of them agreed, grabbed their swords, and ran onto the island, unaware of the dangers upon it.

- -

For the first time in three days, Emily was able to stand on her own feet and walk around without feeling any pain at all. She lifted up her shirt a little and noticed that every single bruise she had along her waist and ribs were gone. She changed out of the clothes that Nami and Robin put her in after the operation and walked to the lounge.

Nami was sitting at the table with a sulk pasted on her face. She told Emily that she was happy that the small girl recovered after her operation.

Emily thanked her and left the room to avoid getting Nami even more upset. Emily walked upon the deck and saw Zoro staring at the island, which now seemed empty. She joined him for a while, but found just sitting around boring.

"Master Zoro?" Emily asked her master.

"Yeah?" Zoro now turned his attention to Emily.

"May I go wandering around the island?" Emily asked him.

Zoro paused. She had just recovered from an operation, "Welll…" He looked at her eyes, which seemed to sparkle and look pathetic and he just couldn't say no, "Okay. Just bring your boomerang with you and come back to the ship soon."

Emily threw her arms around Zoro crying out, "Thank you!" She ran to her room and took her boomerang out of its case. With a piece of clothing, she tied her boomerang to her body like a purse along her back. She waved good-bye to Zoro and ran off to the island without any pain at all.

"Man, what's wrong with me? Why am I being so nice to someone?" Zoro muttered before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

-

Ryan, Kim, and Kelly ran through the forest of the island and stared in amazement. The trees and bushes were bearing fruit they'd never seen before and strange but beautiful flowers were blooming alongside the trees. None of them were touched, though. Not one of the three marines were sure if any of the plants were poisonous.

"I wonder if any people live on this island." Kelly said out loud.

Ryan shrugged, "I don't know."

"By the looks of it," Kim said, "I don't think anybody lives on this island. All the plants are overgrown and I'm positive that somebody would have chopped some of the trees if they lived here."

"Yeah, you're right." Ryan told her. The 3 kept walking.

Emily was not far from Kim, Kelly, and Ryan. She stared in amazement at the trees, bushes, and plants that grew around her. Not even when she was in the traveling circus had she seen such amazing plants. She felt the urge to just reach up to a flower and touch its petals, but stopped herself to avoid accidentally getting poisoned. She was so fascinated that she forgot that she was getting farther and farther from the Going Merry. Raindrops started to fall, but she ignored it.

- - -

The rain was falling harder on Kim, Kelly, and Ryan, making the ground underneath them wet and muddy.

"Maybe we should go back." Kelly said to her friends.

Ryan and Kim nodded. They turned around at the same time and managed to get their feet stuck in the mud. Kim was the first to free her feet, but fell backwards into a large hole just a few feet away from her and let out a scream.

"Kim!" Ryan and Kelly screamed. They removed their feet, but fell down the hole like Kim.

-

A loud scream filled the forest followed by two others screaming, "Kim!" The water was already up to Emily's ankles and Zoro would yell at her if she didn't go back to the ship, but she couldn't leave these people alone. She ran towards the hold and looked down. She saw two dark haired girls and a blonde boy on the side of the hole, grabbing and holding onto a root for dear life. The rain water was splashing on their faces, trying to knock them off.

Kelly looked up at the figure looking down the hole, "Please help us! I don't know how much longer we can hold on!"

Emily nodded and looked around for something, anything to help them. A long, strong vine on a tree caught her eye. Emily grabbed and pulled on the vine until it was no longer connected to the tree. The water was now up to her knees.

Emily ran to the hole and held one side of the vine and brought the other down the hole, "Someone grab this and I'll pull you up!"

Kim grabbed the vine and Emily pulled her up. On the second time Kelly was pulled up. Emily needed Kim and Kelly's help to pull Ryan up, but they did it.

By the time Ryan was pulled up, the water was almost up to Emily's chest. There would be no way for any of them to get to their boats.

Ryan noticed a dry, empty cave by them and pointed, "Over there! Hurry!"

The girls nodded and followed him inside the cave. With the little light they had in the cave, Kim, Kelly, Ryan, and Emily managed to build a circle of rocks, put dry branches and twigs from inside the cave to the inside of the circle and lit them with the flint Ryan had in his pocket.

"Nice to see you again, Pirate." Ryan smirked.

Emily sighed, "I'm sorry for making a fool out of you in Nanahana, Ryan."

Kim looked at Ryan, "Wait, so this is the girl you told us about? Man, she's tiny."

"Don't rub it in." Emily muttered.

"So you're the pirate that none of the other Marines believed that you were a pirate?" Kelly asked. Emily slowly nodded her head.

Immediately, Kim, Kelly, and Ryan took out their swords and started to walk towards her. Quickly, Emily took out her boomerang and held it in attack position. "Prepare to die, Pirate!" Ryan said to Emily, "The three of us have been fighting with swords for three years."

Emily stared at him, "I've mastered the boomerang when I was eight years old. And what gives you the right to act like that after I saved your lives?"

Ryan put away his sword, "Fine. Whatever." Kim, Kelly, and Emily put their weapons away.

"How long are we going to be stuck here?" Kelly asked the small group.

Kim shrugged, "I don't know. It looks like the water isn't going down. So it may be another day or so."

Ryan, Kelly, and Emily groaned. Kim, being the cheerful one, piped up, "Well, as long as we're here together, we might as well get used to each other."

- - - -

"Did Kim, Kelly, and Ryan come back yet?" Tashigi asked a nearby Marine.

The Marine shook his head, "I didn't see them come back…or leave for that matter." Worry struck Tashigi right in the face. Those three were just kids and the water had risen greatly. Smoker wouldn't let any Marine leave the ship, so all Tashigi could do was hope that the three were all right.

- -

"Hey, did any of you see Emily return?" Zoro asked the rest of the crew, excluding Emily.

"Return?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah, I let her walk on the island a few hours ago." Zoro answered. Nobody said anything. "So, nobody saw her on the ship aside from this morning?" Zoro asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Dammit!" He yelled. With this depth of water, he couldn't possibly walk around in it.

Luffy put a hand on Zoro's shoulder, "Don't worry. I'm sure Emily's fine."

Zoro looked at his captain, "I hope so.

- - -

"I'm Glory Ryan, aged thirteen. My hometown is Okuhaabaa, where I live with my parents and little brother. My best friends are Kim and Kelly. I love to draw and I also love weapons." Ryan announced.

Kim took a deep breath, "I'm Himura Kim, aged twelve. My hometown is Okuhaabaa, where I live with my parents and older brother. My best friends are Ryan and Kelly. I love swordfighting and making others smile."

It was Kelly's turn next, "I'm Uchiha Kelly, aged twelve. My hometown is Okuhaabaa, where my parents and little sister live. My best friends are Kim and Ryan. I love reading and being with my friends."

Now it was Emily's turn, "My name is Emerald Emily, aged twelve. I don't have a hometown, but I have two sisters living in Yokuna. My best friends are Morimura Misao and Umiryuu. I love playing my flute and green apples."

"Wait, you don't have a hometown?" Kim asked Emily.

Emily shook her head. Even if she did have one, she didn't know where it was.

"Oh well. The way you travel, it's no wonder you don't have a hometown." Kim said.

Ryan looked out the cave entrance. Water fell down the entrance like a waterfall, "It seems to be getting worse. I wonder if the other Marines are worried about us."

"I hope that Master Zoro won't leave me here." Emily said softly.

"Wait…" Kelly started. Kim, Kelly, and Ryan started laughing hysterically.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked.

Ryan caught his breath, " 'Master Zoro'? You're not a pirate, you're a slave!"

Emily blushed, "Yes I am."

"No wonder you don't have a hometown. Slaves never do." Ryan laughed.

Emily stood up in embarrassment and walked to the other side of the cave, away from the three Marines, but she didn't cry. The laughing eventually stopped and the three Marines felt guilty for laughing at Emily for being a slave.

"We want to apologize for making fun of you…" Kelly started.

"Even though you are a Pirate-slave." Ryan finished.

Emily looked into his eyes, "Thank you."

Yawns came out of the four mouths of the members of the cave. The four of them lay on the cold floor of the cave around the dying fire. Their eyelids grew heavy and they fell asleep shivering. The fire died and the cave became pitch black.

- -

Zoro looked up into the sky. It was now 9:00 and the water had finally stopped rising. The sky was dark and Emily hadn't returned.

"Five hours. It's been too long." Zoro muttered. He thought of how Luffy told him that Emily was okay, but now he really wasn't sure.

- -

"Is this her? Is this where she is?" a small voice asked.

"It has to be, Janelle. The king said that she's here and the one with the green hair." A second voice said.

"Then, who's the other ones with her?" Another voice, a deeper one asked.

"I have no clue, James." The second voice told the 3rd one, "But let's just take care of all of them."

"All right, Chelsea." James answered.

The three voices ran through the cave, waving their fingers, and making magic. In less than ten seconds, the fire was lit, blankets were covering the four kids, all their clothes were dry, and a pile of food was placed in front of them.

Emily's eyebrows twitched and she slowly opened her blue-green eyes. She saw the faces of two girls and a boy that weren't Kim, Kelly, and Ryan. The three faces gasped and disappeared.

Emily fully opened her eyes and they quickly widened. The cave was warm, she was dry, and there was food in front of her to calm her hunger. She stood up and shook Kim, Kelly, and Ryan, "Wake up!"

The three Marines obeyed her and stared wide-eyed at the things around them.

"What?" Kim asked.

Emily shrugged, "I don't know. I saw three figures in here, but then they disappeared."

"Wow…" Kelly exclaimed.

"Hey, the rain stopped. Maybe the water will go down." Ryan shouted. His stomach grumbled, "But…since we're stuck here, how about we eat this food before it spoils." The girls agreed and ate their food.

"Hey Emily, although you are a pirate-slave, do you wanna be my friend?" Kim asked.

"Mine too?" Kelly added.

Emily nodded, "Just don't try to arrest me."

"Deal." Kim and Kelly agreed and shook hands with Emily. Another yawn escaped the four figures' mouths and they fell asleep under their blankets and around the fire that hadn't gone out.

In the morning, the fire had gone out and the cave was cold. Ryan was the first to wake up. He stepped over the three sleeping girls and looked out the entrance of the cave and gasped. All the water was gone and the ground was dry. He ran and woke the three girls up and drug them to the entrance. "Should we go back to our ships?" Ryan asked the girls. Kim, Kelly, and Emily nodded.

Kim, Kelly, Ryan, and Emily folded up their blankets and stepped out of the cave. They said a final good-bye calling each other either "Pirate-slave" or "Marine". Kim, Kelly, and Ryan walked passed the trees, bushes and plants they had the day before towards the Marine's boat. Ahead of them was Tashigi and Smoker, calling out the missing Marine's names.

"Tashigi! Over here!" Ryan called, running up to his cousin.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" Tashigi asked.

"We're fine. We were just trapped in a cave." Kelly answered, walking back to the ship with the others.

- - - - -

Emily walked the opposite direction of Kim, Kelly, and Ryan did. She walked towards the Going Merry, but didn't see any of the crew. At first she was afraid that the ship left and she'd be alone on this island. She saw a figure with three swords walking back to the ship. Next to the figure was another with a straw hat.

The straw hat figure put his hand on the other's shoulder's, "Maybe she's back at the ship, Zoro."

Emily ran up to the two figures and pulled on the hand of the three sworded figure. "Master Zoro?" Emily asked.

The figure turned around and embraced her, "Oh my God! I thought you were gone. Where were you?"

"I was trapped in a cave with three Marines." Emily answered with a smile.

Zoro let go of her and walked back to the Going Merry. Emily was three feet behind him. Luffy, on the other hand, was seven feet ahead of him yelling, "We found her!"

It only took a minute to get to the ship and the rest of the crew was surprised to see Emily alive. She was pushed into the kitchen and told her adventure of being stuck in the cave. When she finished, Nami had announcement to make, "The weather is good and the ship is repaired. We will leave the island shortly." Emily wanted to cheer. Although she did make new friends on the island, she wanted to leave…badly.

Emily walked to the orange trees and sat within them, on top of her blanket from the cave. She saw the anchor being pulled up and the island getting farther and farther from the ship until it could no longer be seen, and she was happy. The island weather was terrible and the animals were scary. Inside her head, she sang as she waited for the next town.

- -

A/N: Okay, that's this chapter. All these new characters I introduced were actual people from my life(friends and enemies). My sister helped me pick out these new Devil Fruits, so partial credit goes to Kurama's Girlfriend11. I wanted to give Kim, Kelly, and Ryan interesting last names, so I picked the last names of some of the main characters from "Rave Master", "Rurouni Kenshin", and "Naruto".

And about the bruised bones that Emily had…when I was in health for my Junior year in high school, my health teacher said something about being able to bruise your bones, but since it was a Friday, I didn't pay much attention to what he said about treating the bruises so I had to make something up. And one final note: Okuhaabaa is sort of a real town in Washington.

R/R please, but don't flame me.


	6. Reunited with the Circus

Ch.6: Reunited with the Circus

Disclaimer: No, I don't own One Piece, but if I did it sure as hell wouldn't be dubbed by 4Kids entertainment(and I swear to God, if they completely ruin the Arlong arc, there'll be Hell to pay)!

- - - - - -

_6th sun, 30th day of red larkspurs  
__(Friday, July 30)_

_It has been a long time since I saw Kim, Kelly, and Ryan, and even longer since I spoke with Misao. In one of my bags I have a picture of my dear sister, the most recent one I have. She is 9 years old and is sitting on the porch steps of a large mansion next to 9 year old me. Misao's curls are tied tightly into pigtails, her brown eyes are sparkling, and an arm is on my shoulder. I was smiling for the first time since Mama and Papa left me…_

- - - - -

Fingers were dancing with the music that they were help making. Two different sets of breath were joining the fingers. One set was blowing into a flute while the other was singing a common tune. The singing came from Luffy while the flute playing obviously came from Emily. She'd been playing song requests from Luffy for three hours straight. All her tunes were just simple songs that every pirate knew in this age…and every time she played them, Luffy sang loudly, as if he wanted the whole sea to hear him.

She also knew the tunes she played when she was in the traveling circus even though it had been three years since she last played them. Emily refused to play any of them around the crew. She didn't want the memories of the circus to show up in her mind.

Eventually, Luffy decided that he wanted to stop singing and Emily was able to stop playing her flute.

Emily looked around at the people sitting on the deck of the ship. Luffy, now done singing, was jumping onto the bow with excitement on his face. Zoro was taking a five hour long nap. Usopp was busy fixing something. Nami was busy checking a map to make sure the ship was not off course. Chopper was sitting half asleep next to the napping Zoro. Robin was yet again reading one of her books for the millionth time. And Sanji was walking with a tray in his hand, side-stepping each of the rubbery hands that Luffy aimed at the tray.

Emily softly giggled. Each member reminded her of the members of the traveling circus. Luffy was acting like Josh the clown, always happy. Zoro was like James the lion tamer, almost always sleeping. Chopper was like Toby the main lion, always trying to do what the tamer was doing. Usopp was like Will the magician, constantly fixing things or getting ready for tricks. Robin was like April the acrobat, reading when not working. Nami was like the Ringmaster's wife, directing the circus when traveling. Sanji was like the Ringmaster, always protecting what he held.

The weather was good and had been good whenever Emily played her flute. It was as if the sea decided to be peaceful when the flute was played. The Straw Hat Pirates had visited two towns since they were at the uninhabited island.

The next town was called Redding. It was a small town, as Nami explained. All the talk of small towns reminded Emily of the traveling circus.

FLASHBACK- - - - - - -

"Where is our next town, Mama?" Emily, now seven years old, asked the Ringmaster's wife from on top of Toby's back.

The woman looked at Emily with a smile, "It's 30 miles away." The Ringmaster and his wife were the closest thing she had to parents since her own died when she was a month old, so she called them Mama and Papa.

Emily was excited about going to the next town. It would be the first time she'd perform on her flute in front of people that weren't part of the circus.

Emily looked down at Toby, "Are you getting tired, Toby?"

The lion shook his head and kept walking. Emily was so small and light that Toby barely felt a thing. Emily was happy to be in the traveling circus even thought she had been separated from Misao for almost a year. But here, the circus ignored the fact that Emily was a slave and treated her like a normal girl. And no matter what, she was extremely grateful for being saved when she was still six.

- - - -FLASHBACK WITHIN A FLASHBACK- - - - - - -

Six-year-old Emily went back to work the day after forcing down the dirty soup she was forced to eat. Her stomach was aching, her body felt weak, and she had a fever. But she was still well enough to work and Misao was helping her, so it wasn't so hard.

The master of the house was going to have a large party that evening and the entire mansion had to be completely spotless. Both girls were busy working on the upstairs rooms, mopping the floors and dusting the things along the walls. To get things done quicker, Misao decided to take care of the walls since she was bigger than Emily and Emily would mop the floors.

After an hour and a half, Emily's vision began to become blurry and her breathing became labored. She leaned on the wall to get her balance, but it didn't do very much.

Misao looked at her, "Are you okay, Emily?"

Emily nodded, took a step forward, then collapsed.

Misao screamed and shook her sister, hoping to wake her up, but it didn't work.

The mansion's master ran up stairs, "What's wrong?"

"Emily…she collapsed." Misao cried.

"Stop crying and bring her to her room. I'll send Alan to help you." The master said before heading downstairs.

A minute later, a male slave came up and carried Emily to her bed. He then walked back to the kitchen to cook the entrees for the party. Misao continued her work.

Emily slept while everyone cleaned and woke up halfway in the party. Using all of her strength, she grabbed her small bag and lifted it onto her bed and under her arm. A few coughs came out of the small girl, really heavy ones. She felt the room get blazing hot, but ignored it because she felt that it was just her fever. But she was wrong, very wrong.

The Ringmaster and his wife were at the party as were tons of others. All the slaves except for Emily were busy following orders given by the guests. The master and group of his friends were busy smoking cigars around the alcohol, definitely a stupid thing to do.

Sparks fell into the nearby alcohol and lit it all on fire. The men screamed and tossed the alcohol onto the walls, hoping that the fire might go out, but instead the mansion lit on fire quickly.

Screams and pushing came and soon everybody except Emily was out of the burning mansion.

Misao tried running inside, but was held back by the master. "My sister! She's in her room!" Misao screamed.

The master looked at her, "Leave her, Misao. She was sick and now her pain will end." The Ringmaster and his wife didn't want to hear anymore. They ran into the mansion, looking for Emily.

Emily opened her eyes at the flames around her, but she didn't move. She was too weak. She held her bag close to her body and waited for the flames to get her, but they never came.

Instead, a man and woman grabbed both her and her bag and carried them outside. They didn't even bother to bring Emily to her master so they brought her to the traveling circus, where they took care of her fever. She'd been with them ever since.

- -END FLASHBACK WITHIN A FLASHBACK- - - - - -

"Mama? How long will it be before we get there?" Emily asked Mama.

Mama laughed, "In about three days, Little Emerald." Little Emerald was Mama and Papa's nickname for her because her hair was emerald green and she was so small. Mama and Papa knew how excited she was to play for the first time. The forest was getting darker and darker as the circus got deeper and deeper into it and the evening came.

"Okay. Let's stop here for tonight." Papa announced from next to Mama. All the carts stopped instantly and the circus animals, all tamed by James, were free to walk around.

James walked up to Toby and Emily with a smile and lifted the seven-year-old off the lion and onto the ground. "I'm going to get some firewood." James and Will announced to the circus.

"Can I come, too?" Emily asked.

James and Will didn't say anything. James lifted his head to Papa, as if to ask if it was all right for Emily to come along. Papa nodded his head.

"Sure, let's go." James said to Emily, grabbing her hand. Will grabbed Emily's free hand and walked into the woods.

Once deep enough in the woods, Will motioned for James and Emily to stand back.

James put the little seven-year-old on his shoulders and stood away from where Will was.

Will reached into his coat and pulled out a large saw at least two feet taller than he was and stuck it into a nearby tree. Will grabbed one side of the saw and started sawing, pushing the saw back and forth as if there was another him on the other side.

The tree started to wobble and Will looked up at Emily, "And now, the special word…"

Emily smiled, opened her mouth, and called out, "Timber!" The tree collapsed to the ground with a loud bang. Emily was lifted off of James' shoulders and onto the ground.

Will reached into his coat again and pulled out two large axes and handed one to James. The two men started chopping at the tree, making a huge pile of firewood by the item they were done.

Will put the saw and axes back in his coat and put some of the wood in his arms.

James and Emily followed him and put as much firewood as they possibly could hold in their arms. The three of them smiled at each other and walked back to the traveling circus carefully. By the time they got back, a circle of rocks was made in front of the carts and food was being taken out.

A fire was lit inside the circle and the firewood was placed in the fire to keep it going. The food was cooked and split amongst the humans and animals and the wine was split amongst the adults(since Emily was only seven, she was given water to drink). As she ate, Emily practiced her writing by using a stick and a patch of dirt.

Dinner was filled with lively conversations and when the sky got pitch black, the animals were put in their cages and Emily was brought to the cart she shared with April and a few other female performers to sleep. All the adults sat around the fire, talking and laughing like the members of the Straw Hat Pirates on the Going Merry.

- - -END FLASHBACK- - - - - - - -

Emily smiled and laughed as the good memories of her three years in the traveling circus played in her head.

A loud voice from Sanji yelling, "Land Ho!" caused Emily's memories to stop.

Nami looked at the city in front of her and at her map and gave a thumbs up sign, "Pull into port!" In an instant, everyone turned the Going Merry into the port.

Not many people noticed that pirates were coming into their small town, or if they did notice, they didn't really care. The Straw Hat Pirates played a game of rock, paper, scissors to see who would stay and guard the ship(Emily was yet again counted out of this game) and Usopp was yet again the unlucky one to be chosen, but Emily decided to stay with him.

The remaining crew members went their own separate ways, leaving Usopp, Emily, and the Going Merry behind.

Emily walked off of the ship and stood on the road to regain of her land legs. People walked by and ignored her until finally a young girl taller than her walked up.

The girl pushed some of her blonde hair behind her ear and stuck out her hand, "Hi, I'm Takenaka Mimi."

Emily took her hand and shook it, "I'm Emerald Emily."

"Did you come here to see the show?" Mimi asked.

Emily shrugged her shoulders.

Mimi smiled, "Well, it's okay if you didn't. You wanna be my friend?"

"Um, okay. Sure." Emily answered.

"Really? That's great! My mother says that I need more friends and that I'd have more if I wasn't so hyper, but I just ignore her. By the way, how old are you? Ten?"

"Twelve."

"Cool! Only two years younger than me! Why did you stop in Redding? There's nothing to do here except for the occasional shows we get, which I think is completely unfair."

"My ship stopped here for supplies."

"Oh, you're so lucky to travel on a ship. I would love to travel to different towns and leave Redding behind, although I would miss Mother and my brothers."

"You like to talk, don't you?"

"Of course! What's the point of being able to talk if you haveta keep quiet?"

Emily laughed out loud. Mimi acted so much like Misao when their masters weren't around to beat them for laughing. She and Mimi talked for two hours, even after Zoro came back, before Emily asked about the show.

"Mimi, what is the show that is going to be performed today?"

"You don't know? The Sky Gypsies are going to perform today."

"The…traveling circus?"

"Uh-huh! My father said that the show was better three years ago when they had the flute player in it, but she's not there anymore."

"Really? Do you know where the circus is now?"

"Yup! I saw them yesterday! Everyone there is really nice."

Before Emily could ask Mimi anything else, a lion running throughout Redding was heading towards the Going Merry. Once there, the lion tackled Emily to the ground and stared at her with its golden eyes.

Emily giggled, "Hello Toby."

The lion rubbed his head against hers before getting off of her.

Zoro, who was on the deck of the ship, stared in shock at what happened next.

Emily lifted herself onto her feet and brought out her left arm to stroke the lion's head, ignoring her sweater sleeve.

Toby's mouth opened and closed right where her left hand was. Emily gasped in shock.

Mimi and Zoro at the same time screamed, "Emily!"

Zoro jumped from the deck next to Emily, hoping to rescue her hand from Toby.

Toby moved his head and swallowed. It looked like there would be no way to save her hand. "Oh God…" Zoro gasped. Mimi just stared.

Emily frowned and pulled up her left sleeve. Her hand was perfectly fine, just hidden by the sleeve. "Dang. I should have known that the sleeves on the sweater Miss Nami gave me were too long." Emily said softly. She looked up at Zoro, "Is something wrong, Master Zoro?"

Zoro shook his head. Emily looked at Toby, "Do you know where the circus is and Mama and Papa?"

Toby ran up under Emily and got her on his back.

Emily looked at Zoro, "Master Zoro? May I go see the traveling circus?"

Zoro nodded, "I'd like to go with you. I wanna talk to some of the circus people."

"Okay," Emily said, "Let's go, Toby!"

Toby started walking through the town with the light emerald haired girl on his back and the green haired man and blonde girl walking along his side.

The circus and its people didn't look any different than they did three years ago except for they weren't starved.

Emily leapt off of Toby's back and walked to a dark haired man and woman. "Mama? Papa?" Emily asked, putting her hands on theirs.

The man and woman looked at her in shock. "Emily?" The woman asked. Emily nodded. Tears poured out of their eyes.

The man and woman embraced her and called the rest of the circus over. Soon, every member of the circus was embracing the twelve year old. After a while, the people let go of Emily and took a good look at her.

"Well, Emily…I can't say that you've grown, because you haven't." James said to Emily.

Emily giggled, "I may be little, but I'm now twelve."

Mama looked at Zoro and asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Roronoa Zoro." Zoro answered.

"He's my new master." Emily included.

Papa looked at her, "You…were turned back into a slave?"

Emily nodded, "About seven months after you left me, after your friend died, her brother turned both me and Misao into slaves."

Papa clenched his fists and muttered, "That bastard!"

April looked at him, "Look on the bright side. She isn't pale or starved, so this new master must be treating her right."

Papa let out a sigh, "You're right."

Emily asked Papa, "Papa? Is the circus going to perform tonight?"

Papa smiled, "Yes. Tonight is the last night."

"Oh." Emily mumbled.

Mama thought about the schedule and put her hands on Emily's shoulders, "We have an empty space in tonight's schedule. Would you like to perform with us?"

Emily's eyes brightened as she turned her head towards Zoro.

Zoro yet again fell victim to Emily's eyes, "Sure."

"That's great! We perform in three hours." Mama announced.

April grabbed Emily's hand, "We have to pick out an outfit for you, too." As she was drug to a nearby cart, Emily grabbed Mimi's hand and drug her to the cart also.

Papa looked at Zoro, "I want to talk to you for a little bit."

- - - - - - -

"The circus is in town!" Luffy cried out happily, waving around a piece of paper. Nami looked at the paper, "The Sky Gypsies? Isn't that the circus Emily was in?"

"Emily was in a circus?" Luffy asked.

Nami nodded. "Then we should take her to see the circus tonight." Luffy announced.

"Luffy, you may be the captain, but it's up to Zoro for Emily to go places like that." Sanji told his captain.

Luffy smiled, "Then we'll just wait for Zoro to come back."

- - - - -

"Hmmm…try on this outfit first." Mimi said to Emily, holding up a set of clothes.

"Um, okay. I didn't know that you liked helping people with clothes." Emily answered.

Mimi laughed, "Of course. My mother says that I have an excellent fashion sense. And it's my dream to make fashions for different people around the world." Emily giggled and put on the outfit.

"I didn't know you used to be the flutist in this circus." Mimi said.

"I was dropped off when I was nine." Emily answered, "How does this look?"

Mimi looked over the dress Emily wore, "Hmmm…too plain and blue doesn't go well with a happy event." Mimi looked through a nearby chest and took out a beautiful green skirt that shimmered, "Put this on."

"But I hate skirts." Emily told Mimi.

Mimi let out a sigh, "Emily, this is a special night. Make an acception."

"Okay." Emily told her. Emily took off the dress and put the skirt on.

"Now, we need a great top." Mimi told Emily. She dug through a different chest, picking up a top, looking it over, and then putting it back. She finally handed a beautiful green top to Emily, "Put this on."

Emily obeyed her new friend and put the top on. The beautiful, silky green top felt and looked good on Emily. "How do I look?" Emily asked Mimi.

Mimi smiled, "Like a large emerald."

"You act so much like my sister, Misao, in Yokuna." Emily told her.

Mimi giggled, "I'm happy to hear that. Now, you need to get some shoes…"

- - - - -

Mama and Papa looked at Zoro suspiciously. "So, you're her new master?" Mama asked Zoro.

Zoro nodded, "I bought her for 100,000 berries in Yokuna. Doesn't seem to talk much, though."

"You know why that is, right?" Papa asked him.

"Yeah, because she was treated badly as a slave."

"That's part of it, but there's another reason."

"Why's that?"

"She's been left behind so many times. When she was in an orphanage, she was taught things by a boy six years older than she was."

"What types of things?"

"Well, by the time she was seven months old, she could walk. By the time she was ten months old, she could speak. And by the time she was a year and a half old, she could read and write."

"All that?"

"Yes. And when she was three, the boy who taught her all those things was adopted and moved to a city far away. She was adopted not too long afterwards by a man in rich clothing, claiming to bring her to his mansion and put her in a school to improve her gift…but he lied. He turned her to a slave and tried to get rid of the gift."

"Who'd want to do that to a kid?"

"Some evil bastards. Anyway, she was living a terrible life until my wife and I saved her from a burning building six years ago. We had to get rid of her when she was nine."

"Why?"

"She was starving. Anyway, we dropped her off with a friend of mine, hoping that she'd be free, but as we learned, my friend passed away and she became a slave again."

"Why wouldn't she tell me any of this?"

"Slaves aren't supposed to their masters about their lives."

Zoro didn't say anything after that.

Emily told him that there was little that slaves could do without being punished, but he never knew that there was a limit to what a slave could say about their past. That was probably the reason why she never spoke of her past, other than her bruises and her sister in Yokuna.

- - -

Luffy looked at the clock inside the Going Merry and frowned, "Man, only one more hour before the circus starts. Where are Zoro and Emily?" Everyone else shrugged.

"I'm sure they're both fine. Besides, if you're so anxious about the circus, just go by yourself." Chopper told his captain. Luffy frowned, but nodded.

- -- -

Emily looked into a nearby mirror. In her clothes, she looked like an emerald fairy without wings and shoes.

April gave Mimi permission to pick out an outfit from the chests to wear to the performance. The lavender dress and matching hair piece looked cute and felt great on Mimi's body. She dug through another chest and pulled out a pair of lavender sandals, "I'll take this one!"

Mimi looked over at herself in the mirror, admiring the way she looked before turning her attention over at Emily, "Now, for you." Mimi dug through the chest, putting shoe after shoe on Emily and deciding which was right. Finally, Mimi found an emerald green pair of silky sandals that seemed to look perfect on her new friend. "Put these on," Mimi said, "You'll look extremely cute and your own age."

Emily nodded and slipped on the pair. Turning to Mimi, Emily asked, "Why is tonight the last night they're going to perform?"

Mimi shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe they're leaving for a new town tomorrow."

"Yes, you're right. It is a traveling circus after all." Emily sighed.

"Hey, you know what?" Mimi asked.

"What?"

"The circus seems to be doing pretty good right now, so maybe they'll buy you from your master and take you along."

"I'd like that."

"I know."

"I'd be with the nicest people again and maybe I can be freed. But…"

"But, what?"

"I've wanted to be a pirate for as long as I could remember and now I have the chance to be one. And the whole crew has been so nice to me and I don't think I could bear to leave them behind."

"I guess you are stuck there…but if you could, what would you choose?"

"Well…stay with the circus, I guess."

- - - - -

Mama and Papa were still talking with Zoro about Emily even after she picked out her outfit.

"So, you aren't her real parents?" Zoro asked them.

Mama shook her head, "Emily only called us that because we seemed like parents to her."

Zoro looked at her, knowing that she was hiding a big secret from both him and Emily.

"What kind of chores do you make her do?" Papa asked Zoro.

"Nothing really, just play her flute and help us out on the ship." Zoro answered.

Mama and Papa let out a sigh of partial relief. "You know the rules of slave trading, right?" Papa asked Zoro.

Zoro paused. He honestly had no idea of the rules. He didn't even know them when he bought Emily back in Yokuna, but of course, he didn't care as long as Emily was okay, so he nodded.

"That's good to know. But promise me this…if you decide to get rid of Emily, only do it to save her life or help make her happy. There's something really special about her, I can feel it." Papa demanded.

Zoro nodded, "She seems pretty happy here. I was considering on leaving her here with the traveling circus."

"No!" Mama screamed, "Not here!"

Zoro looked confused, "What's wrong? She's happy with you."

Papa looked at him, "There's another reason why we left her three years ago."

"Which is?" Zoro asked.

Papa took a deep breath, "We're dying."

- - - -

A/N: That's my newest chapter. Mimi is not my character, nor is she a real person. My little sister made up this character. I'm sorry if this chapter was boring, I'll try to make the next one more interesting. And you saw in the disclaimer how pissed I was about the dubbing of One Piece. Well, I saw a showing of the theme song and it was completely screwed up and I'll be even more pissed if they ruin the Arlong arc(my favorite arc).


	7. Tearful Partings

Ch.7: Tearful Partings

Disclaimer- Uhhh…by now you should know what I own and what I don't.

- - -

_7th sun, 31st day of red larkspurs  
__(Saturday, July 31)_

_My family left me today, this time, for forever. I was hoping that I could live with them and be a part of my family again, but I should have known that death, though invisible to my eyes, was standing in between me and my family the entire time, completely crushing all of my hopes of being with a family that would always be there for me. If only I would have known…_

- - -

Zoro stared in disbelief, "What? How?"

"It happened three years ago, when Emily was starving. The night before we left her with a friend of mine, we were cursed. It was given to us when she was sleeping. An old man came up, saying that he was going to take Emily to be with "her own kind", but all of us refused to give her up, so the man said that he'd curse us all if we didn't. We refused to let her go and on the same day, everyone in the circus will die." Papa explained.

Zoro still stared, "Does Emily know about any of this?"

Mama and Papa paused, obviously saying that they hadn't.

"How much longer do you have?" Zoro asked them.

"We'll be dead by 2:00 tomorrow afternoon." Mama softly answered.

"And you didn't tell her?" Zoro practically yelled.

"We…couldn't." Papa mumbled.

"Hell, you're going to have to! The ship is leaving tomorrow and how do you think she's going to react when she finds the closest people to her dead?" Zoro yelled, softer this time.

Mama sighed, "You're right. We'll tell her after the performance."

As soon as she finished two figures: one in green and one in lavender, walked up.

Mama smiled at them, "Are you girls almost ready? We're going to perform in a half an hour."

Mimi nodded, but Emily cried out, "My flute! It's on the ship!"

Without being asked to or saying anything, Zoro ran back to the Going Merry, in search of Emily's flute.

- - - -

"Man, where are they?" Luffy grumbled. He really was hoping to bring Emily to the circus.

"Hey! There's Zoro!" Usopp shouted, pointing at the swordsman running towards the ship.

The second Zoro got on the ship, Luffy asked, "Where's Emily?"

"She's going to perform in the circus. I just need to get her flute." Zoro answered.

Robin went into her room and brought out the box with Emily's flute inside.

Zoro thankfully grabbed it and started walking towards the traveling circus. The entire crew followed him, knowing that nobody in this small town would steal the ship.

- - - -

"Mama? Can I ask you something?" Emily asked Mama.

Mama smiled, "Of course. What is it?"

Emily leaned in towards Mama's ear and whispered her question.

Mama thought for a minute then nodded her head.

Emily gave Mama a huge hug and ran backstage to Mimi, "Mama said that it's okay."

"That's great! Now, we just have to practice." Mimi cried.

"Is your family going to come to the performance?" Emily asked Mimi.

Mimi shook her head, "Ever since my father left, Mom hasn't wanted to go anywhere for entertainment and my brothers don't want to go anywhere or do anything with me."

"That's mean. Why not?" Emily asked.

Mimi shrugged, "Beats me. Probably because I'm nothing like they want me to be."

"Emily!" A familiar voice called out from behind the two girls. Emily turned around and saw Zoro running towards her, her flute in his hands, "Master Zoro!"

Zoro handed her the box breathlessly.

"Thank you." Emily thanked him and put her flute together.

"Good luck." Zoro whispered in her ear before joining the crew in the crowd waiting outside for the circus to start.

Emily and Mimi silently practiced while the members of the circus performed. Mimi took a look out in the crowd and gasped.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked her friend. Mimi stuttered, "M-my mother and b-brothers…t-they came." Mimi pointed into the crowd at a brunette woman and four boys, two older and two younger than Mimi, "I can't believe it…"

Emily smiled, "Now you'll have to impress them…"

"And now after a three year absence, Emerald Emily will perform once again on her flute," Papa announced to the crowd, "while Takenaka Mimi dances."

Most of the crowd look surprised, not because of Emily, but because of Mimi. None of them expected that she could perform in front of people silently, but nevertheless, they cheered.

Mimi and Emily stepped out on the stage, looked at each other, and nodded.

Emily put her flute up to her lips and Mimi got ready to move. The music then started and Mimi's feet started tapping. The music being played was much different than the other Straw Hat Pirates had ever heard and Mimi's dance moves matched the beat perfectly.

The crowd stared in amazement at the performance of the two girls. When they both finished, everyone in the crowd clapped and cheered, Mimi's brothers smiled, and Mimi's mother had tears in her eyes and smiled. The girls entertained the crowd with two more songs and dances before they stopped to let the rest of the circus perform.

"You were great!" Mimi exclaimed.

"You were, too." Emily told Mimi. Both girls softly giggled and watched the rest of the show from behind the curtains. Emily was happy to see all the members of the traveling circus perform after three years, but not prepared to hear the conversation she'd have with Mama and Papa in a few minutes.

After the final performances, the crowd got smaller and smaller.

The Straw Hat Pirates and the Takenaka family walked behind the curtains to Emily and Mimi. Both girls were praised for their work, especially by the Takenaka family.

Mimi went into the carts to change back into her normal clothes, but the circus let her keep the clothes she danced in. Mimi thanked them, said a final good bye to Emily, then left with her family.

Emily smiled and thanked her crew members for all the compliments being given to her. Zoro looked at Mama and Papa.

Both of them sighed.

"Emily, come to the main cart. We have to talk to you." Mama said seriously.

Emily nodded and followed both Mama and Papa to the front and largest cart. The door then closed and they told Emily the sad truth about themselves.

Emily's face paled, "No…please tell me that what you said is just a joke."

Papa shook his head, "I'm sorry, Emily. But by tomorrow afternoon, all of us at the circus will be dead."

"Why did you decide to tell me this now? Why not three years ago when the curse was placed on you?" Emily asked with tears in her eyes.

"Because you were already weak and if we told you at that time, you would have given up on life." Mama answered.

"Isn't there anyway to lift the curse?" Emily asked.

Mama and Papa shook their heads. Now the tears were flowing.

"I don't want you to die. You're the only parents that I've ever had for as long as I could remember." Emily cried.

Mama and Papa felt tears stinging their eyes and rolling down their cheeks.

Emily ran into their arms and cried her eyes out. It was silent outside with only the sound of crying coming from inside the cart.

- - - -

Pam walked through a dark, damp hallway. The hallway was full of jail cells, mostly occupied and most alive. The only living prisoners were extremely thin from being starved. She opened the door to a cell and walked to a figure chained to the walls. Pam put her hand under the figure's chin, lifted its head, and stared into its brown eyes, "So, are you ready to give in?"

"Never!" The figure answered, moving its head.

"Come on, Kayleigh. I have your life in its own cell, and I can easily destroy it." Kayleigh's eyes widened. The psycho woman was right. Kayleigh's life was in a tree in the gardens and Pam could easily chop down the tree and kill her. Kayleigh was silent. Pam grunted, "You have until the end of tomorrow to make your decision." She stepped out of the cell, slamming the door behind her.

A tear rolled down Kayleigh's cheeks, "What am I going to do?"

- - - -

Emily spent nearly an hour crying about the circus dying.

Zoro had told the Straw Hat Pirates the truth and how it would affect Emily, so none of the crew said anything to avoid upsetting the girl.

Mama, now looking a bit weak, walked up to Zoro, "Will you allow Emily to stay with the circus for the final night?" Zoro nodded. "Thank you." Mama told him.

Papa walked up next to her, "And we have a final request."

Zoro nodded, "Okay. What is it?" Papa whispered what he wanted in Zoro's ear. Zoro's eyes widened, "You sure about that?" Papa nodded. "Well…okay. If that's really what you want." Zoro said before turning to Emily, "I'll pick you up tomorrow, Emily." Emily nodded. Zoro left for the ship, the rest of the crew minus Emily following him.

All of the members of the traveling circus were getting really weak, but they forced themselves to act strong in front of Emily on their last night of life. A campfire was in front of the carts and everyone was gathered around the fire, talking and laughing like they all did three years ago. Everyone talked and laughed long after midnight. Emily wished the night wouldn't end.

THE NEXT MORNING- - -

Emily opened her eyes and looked around the cart she slept in. All the girls inside laid under blankets with eyes closed and peaceful looks on their faces. They looked like they were sleeping, and inside Emily prayed that they were. She walked over to April and shook her, but April refused to wake. Emily then remembered that Chopper taught her how to tell if somebody was dead, so she checked April for breath and pulse, but there was none. The acrobat was dead, as were the other girls.

Emily walked outside and to another cart that held all the men except for Papa and James (Papa and Mama had their own cart and James slept outside with the animals). All of the men were, like the girls, still. Emily checked the pulse of the men, but there was none or no breathing. All of them were dead.

She stepped out of the male's cart and stopped by James and the animals. Emily checked James and confirmed that he was dead as were all of the animals but one.

Toby was barely alive when Emily checked him. Toby looked at her with his golden eyes, took a deep breath, then died. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she ran to the final cart of people.

Mama and Papa were barely alive and laid under their blankets.

"Mama! Papa!" Emily cried. Mama sat up and held Emily in her arms. "Everyone is dead. Why did any of this have to happen?" Emily cried.

Mama stroked her emerald hair, "It was destined to happen and we all had a good life. And we're giving the carts and everything inside to you. You can decide what to do with them."

Emily looked in her eyes, "No, don't talk like that. I don't want you to die!"

Mama sighed, "I'm sorry, Little Emerald. But we can't stop death once it starts. Do you see that light blue chest over there?" She pointed to the left.

"Yes." Emily answered in sobs.

"That chest holds items that everyone in the circus was going to give to you the next time we saw you. And inside is a red book, but I don't want you to open it until you're on sea." Papa said sitting up.

"Papa." Emily sobbed.

"We asked your master to help in cremating all the bodies of the members of the circus then toss them into the ocean." Papa told her.

"I don't want you to die! I want you to stay alive with me!" Emily cried.

"We can't stop death. And I want you to be alive. There is something special about you and I want you to live to discover how special you truly are." Mama told her, laying on the ground, "Promise that you'll stay alive."

Emily kept crying, "I promise, Mama. I'll live." Mama smiled, sighed, then closed her eyes. "Mama? Mama?" Emily cried. She checked the woman's pulse, but confirmed that the woman was dead. Emily looked at Papa, who was now starting to lay down, "Papa, no! Please don't leave me!"

Papa chuckled, "I never will, Emily. None of us ever will. No matter what. I promise." He then breathed his final breath and closed his eyes.

At first Emily refused to believe that he was actually dead, but she took his pulse and the truth slapped her in the face. She covered her face with her hands and wept. The door to the cart opened and a muscular hand landed on her shoulder. Emily looked up and saw Zoro.

"I'm sorry, Emily." Zoro said to the girl. Emily didn't say anything.

It didn't take long for the cremation of the bodies to start or end for that matter. Emily looked one final time at the members of the circus before they were burned to ashes. Josh was smiling and everyone else looked like they were sleeping.

Mimi and her older brothers were there for the cremation and were silent. Mimi's brothers helped move the ashes of the cremated bodies into a vase without missing a single ash.

Emily forced herself not to cry when the cremation was over. She turned to Mimi, "Mama and Papa gave me the carts and everything in them, but I can't take all of them with me. If you would like to, you may pick out what you want."

Mimi nodded, "Okay." With that, Emily led her inside her room first.

There were empty chest in the room, but there were closets and dressers full of clothes and books. Most of the clothes went to Mimi for most were too big for Emily, but the rest were given to Nami and Robin, who were helping Emily and Mimi. Robin took the books. Next to the dresser, Nami noticed something carved into the wall. In childish handwriting were the words, "Emily, aged six."

Once the room was clean, it looked so empty. The next room was the men's cart(Mimi's brothers, Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, Zoro, and Chopper were mainly the ones in there). Usopp grew fascinated with some of Will's unfinished projects and took them to complete on the sea. Mimi's brothers, Charlie (aged 16) and Joe (aged 18), took the clothes and packed them into trunks and left them alone.

Emily asked everyone but Mimi to go through the storage shed and take what they wished from it. Emily drug Mimi into Mama and Papa's cart. Emily automatically claimed her trunk and Mama's jewelry box along with a blanket or so. Mimi took the rest of the blankets and most of the clothes. She gave Emily a beautiful blue dress and matching shoes that were once Mama's and a few other things.

"Hey, Emily? Did the Ringmaster and his wife measure your height?" Mimi asked, pointing at painted marks and dates left on the wall.

Emily nodded and kept packing. When they finished, the room looked and felt so empty. Joe had gone home to bring a horse and cart back to the circus carts to load up all of the things going to the Takenakas.

Chopper went back to the ship, pulling a good load of items to the ship. Soon, all that was left was the circus carts.

"What are we going to do about the Sky Gypsies' carts?" Mimi asked, "There's no way they could stay at my house. We've got no room for them."

"I don't know. I can't take them with me overseas." Emily answered.

A silence followed before Luffy broke it, "What about sending it to your sisters in Yokuna?"

"I guess I can do that," Emily answered, "But I'll have to buy some other things, too." She ran to the Going Merry and brought back her prize money from Nanahana.

With Zoro next to her, Emily was able to buy a pair of strong oxen to pull the carts and have a delivery ship deliver the carts. All of that almost costed half of her contest money.

Joe volunteered to drive the carts to Misao and Haru's home in Yokuna for free on the delivery ship in the morning.

Emily took a key from under Mama and Papa's pillows and looked around the room.

She noticed a men and piece of paper on the desk. She walked over to it and wrote a note on it before leaving both of them on the desk. She looked around the room one final time, remembering the times she had in there and looking one final time at the markings on the wall, showing her height since she was six. A final sigh left her body and she stepped outside of Mama and Papa's cart and locked the door behind her.

Emily locked up all of the rest of the carts. She handed the key to Joe along with a piece of paper with Misao's address written on it. "Please give my sisters this key. On the paper is the address of my sisters and the name of who carts will be going to." Emily told him.

Joe nodded, "You won't regret asking me to deliver the circus carts."

"Thank you." Emily told him, then turned to Zoro, "I'm ready to leave now, Master Zoro."

"Are you sure?" Zoro asked Emily. Emily nodded. "Well…okay. Let's get back to the ship." Zoro said.

Emily turned to Mimi and her brothers and forced a smile on her face, "I want to thank you all for helping me. I would like the carts to be delivered to Haru and Misao as soon as possible. And Mimi, I want you to know that even though we may not live in the same town, we will still be friends." Mimi, Joe, and Charlie nodded.

Emily grabbed the vase of ashes and walked with Zoro on top of the Going Merry. Nobody wasted any time getting the ship to leave port. Emily looked over the side at Redding as it got smaller, wondering if Mimi would be standing and waving. But she wasn't. It didn't bother Emily all that much. The two of them weren't good enough friends anyway.

- - -

Back in Yokuna, Misao and Haru were sitting at the dining room table, eating sweets and looking through the paper that was delivered at the Morimura's mansion just a few hours earlier.

Misao, although she was free and adopted to a rich and loving family, had missed Emily. She didn't even know how her sister was doing and was dying to hear Emily's voice again or see her with her flute again.

Haru picked up a piece of the paper and her violet eyes widened, "Misao! It's Emily!"

Misao gasped and looked at the paper and sure enough, there was Emily standing with an older boy and girl. In Emily's hands was her flute and a bag and a smile on her face. Misao dragged the paper towards herself and started to read the article by the picture:

**The music contest in Nanahana on May 23rd was indeed the best one so far. Our first place winner for 7 years, Glory Ryan had finally been beaten. This years winners are: in 3rd place, Mori Miki; in 2nd place, Glory Ryan; and in 1st place, Emerald Emily. The winner, Emerald Emily played the song 'The Enchanted Savior', which has not been played perfectly in 40 years, perfectly.**

**Although the reporters of Nanahana were unable to get a good report on Emily, we can only assume that her family spent millions of berries paying for her flute lessons and now it is paid off with the 10 million berries she won in the contest…**

Misao didn't read anymore after that, "Wow! Emily's rich!"

"Yeah, I know. And the people of the circus didn't even spend any money teaching her how to play the flute…and she mastered it in a year. Just imagine having 10 million berries all to yourself. She's so lucky." Haru exclaimed with her eyes wide.

Misao giggled. Now she knew how Emily was doing.

- - -

The Going Merry was now 30 miles away from Redding. The sea was completely empty and wide. Emily stood by the edge of the ship, the vase in her hands and tears in her eyes. Slowly, she twisted off the lid to the vase and dropped the ashes into the ocean. Streams of tears ran down her cheeks as she choked out a "good-bye, everyone." The crew was a short distance from her, feeling upset themselves.

Eventually, Zoro walked up to Emily and put a hand on her shoulder. Then, for the first time, Emily wrapped her arms around Zoro's sides and cried heavily, burying her face in his shirt.

At first, he didn't know what to do. In his entire life, nobody, not even Kuina, had ever done what Emily had just done. By the time Emily stopped crying, half of Zoro's shirt was soaked.

She mumbled an apology and walked like a zombie off to her own room.

The entire crew watched her walk off, but not in shock, especially not by Nami. Just watching the cremation and throwing of the ashes into the sea reminded herself of Belmeil and how both Nojiko and her own hearts ached seeing her die right in front of them…and they could do nothing to stop her. It was just like how Emily felt.

- - - - - - - -

"Mark!" Pam screamed into her glass ball onto her desk.

Mark appeared and winced at her scream, "Yes, Lady Pam?"

"Your clues for finding the final living Almani haven't been helping me! I want to know where she is!" Pam screamed.

Mark sighed, "The girl is on the pirate ship with the straw hat sails."

"Excellent." Pam said evilly before leaving the room.

Pam walked down to the dungeons and up to Kayleigh's cell, "So, what's it going to be, Kayleigh? Are you going to give me your powers or do I have to get rid of your only source of life?"

Kayleigh looked into Pam's eyes, "Okay. I'll give you my powers."

Pam smirked, "Perfect." She took out a purple pendant and stuck it onto Kayleigh's chest.

Kayleigh screamed in pain as she felt all of her powers being sucked out of her.

Pam took the pendant and smirked at Kayleigh, who then collapsed to the ground. Pam locked the cell and left the dungeons.

- - - -

Four days had passed since Emily had dumped the ashes into the ocean. She didn't eat anything until the 2nd day and didn't speak until the 3rd. Emily opened her chest already, but didn't open the red book inside…until this very moment. The book was a photo album filled with various photos from the Sky Gypsies. A few of them made her feel lonely inside, but a few of them made her feel really great and laugh. In every picture, the members had a smile…except one, which was a picture taken of a six-year-old her, asleep on Toby's back as the lion walked along the carts.

She was going to put the book back into the chest when a folded piece of paper fell from in between the pages. Emily put the book away then carried the paper with her to Nami's orange trees. The second she sat down, Emily opened up the note and started reading the words written in Mama's delicate handwriting:

_**Emily,**_

_**By the time you read this note, the Sky Gypsies will be no more. None of this curse is your fault and it never will be. We had to give you up to protect you and save your life. Also, about a year after we left you with Michelle, we came across the pirate that saved you when you were a month old, "Red-Haired" Shanks.**_

_**My husband and I asked him if he remembered you and he answered that he did and he even had a few pictures of you and his crew together. In this chest, inside the orange box, is one of those pictures. I asked why he left you when you were just a few months old and he told me that he knew there was something special about you, something that involved the person that killed your parents.**_

_**He figured that something was going to come and kill you if you stayed with him, so he gave you away to protect you as my husband and I have done to you. In the orange chest is also something that belonged to your family(the pendant with the wings in a fireball). He said that you can find out who you truly are if you show the pendant to the mayor of your hometown of K-**_

Emily didn't have time to read any more of the note. Before she could finish, the sea shook violently. A group of men entered on the deck of the Going Merry fully equipped with swords and other assorted weapons. Emily regretted not having her boomerang with her and did the only she really could do…she screamed.

In an instant, Luffy Sanji, and Zoro ran up to the deck to see if anything was wrong with their mourning musician. The men started advancing on her and she was completely helpless. The fighting started when the sword of one of the men sliced the paper in her hands to shreds and tossed the pieces into the sea.

"No!" Emily screamed, desperately trying to reach the ripped and damp note, but it was pointless. There'd be no way she'd get it back.

Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro finished the men in two seconds flat and tossed their bodies into the ocean, where they sunk like anchors.

"Are you okay?" Zoro asked Emily.

Emily nodded even though she felt like she was beaten on the inside. She thanked Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro then walked off to the light blue chest in her room and opened up the orange box.

Like the note said, a picture of grown pirates was in there. The man in the middle, a red-haired man was holding a baby girl with green hair in his arms. Under the picture was a beautiful pendant that looked like a flame with wings on the inside, like Mama said.

Shaking off her sadness, Emily slipped on her pendant and looked at herself in the mirror. "I don't know where I'm from or who I really am, but I will find out no matter what."

- - - - -

A/N: Okay…I tried to make this chapter a little dramatic, but I don't think I did a very good job of it(I'm not a dramatic person. I prefer writing comedy), but I tried, so that must count as a good part of this chapter. The town "Redding", is an actual town in California (my sister's friend is from there). And if you have any ideas for my story, don't hesitate to give me them in either e-mail or review.

Oh, and this next note is for the people who read some of my other fanfics: at the beginnings of my stories, I specifically explain if or what I make fun of, so don't flame me for making fun of them. I recently got a flame for one of my other fanfics when I made fun of the characters in my fanfic(it was a Zelda fanfic) and Pokemon even though I stated that I was going to make fun of those. So next time, read the entire story before you start to flame me because every person is allowed to hate what they hate and I hate Pokemon.

Okay…R/R if ya want, but please don't flame me.


	8. Who I Really Am

Ch.8- Who I Really Am.

Disclaimer: One Piece isn't mine…until I get rich and buy it from 4Kids entertainment and redub it right for people aged 14 and up complete with excellent dubbed voices, Japanese openings and endings, and all the other good stuff that wouldn't ruin the dubbed version.

- - - - -

_3rd sun, 17th day of pink poppies  
__(Tuesday, August 17)_

_It's been 17 days since Mama, Papa, and the rest of the circus died. I haven't been talking much since that has happened and from the looks that Master Zoro has been giving me, he's not very happy about that. Umiryuu, Mr. Luffy, and Mr. Usopp have been trying to cheer me up, but it hasn't been working. Miss Nami knows how I feel. She told me that story of her mother's death and what happened to her afterwards._

_Our next stop is the city of Kupeviru. Ever since those men that ruined my note last month came, we've been low on food and supplies have run low, so we have to stop here to resupply…_

- -

"2,496…2,497…2,498…" Zoro counted as he swung his huge weights vertically repeatedly. Sitting upon the top of the deck was the rest of the crew, doing what they normally would be doing…everyone except for Emily and Usopp. Emily was busy moping around while sitting behind Nami's orange trees. Usopp was busy fixing a telescope of Will's which, as Emily explained, could see through the insides of what it was pointed at, like the inside of a volcano to see if an explosion was going to happen soon.

"Hey! An island!" Luffy called from his spot on the bow.

Quickly, both him and Chopper turned the ship to the direction of the island and dropped the anchor once they got there, where the only thing to be seen was a bunch of buildings, most being shops and hotels.

"Is this the town?" Chopper asked Nami.

Nami nodded, "This is Kupeviru. Now, who's staying with the ship?"

"I will." Robin confidently answered.

Before Emily could say that she would, too, Zoro turned to her and said, "I want you to come with me through town, Emily." Emily nodded, "Yes, Master Zoro."

Zoro left for the inside of the ship to put his weights away and put a shirt on.

Nobody asked him why he actually gave Emily an order for the first time. They knew that she was still a slave…his slave.

Zoro walked back onto the deck and walked off the ship, looking back to make sure that Emily was following him. As usual, Emily was a few feet behind him and silent. Both were silent for a few minutes, until Zoro grabbed Emily's hand and brought her to his side.

"Is there something you'd like me to do, Master Zoro?" Emily asked.

Zoro shook his head, "Nope. You've just been moping around a lot, so I thought a walk would help cheer you up."

A gasp was suddenly heard from in front of them. Both Zoro and Emily looked up and saw an aging man standing there with his mouth wide open. The man pointed at Emily, "Little girl, where did you get that pendant?"

Emily put her hand over her pendant and answered, "From my mother." She felt sort of bad for saying that, but technically it wasn't a total lie. The pendant did belong to her parents.

The man was still staring at her, not taking his eyes off of her for even half a second as he stuck his hand into one of his pockets and pulled out a pendant almost completely identical to Emily's. The only difference was that the flames on this pendant were red while the ones on Emily's were orange.

"Little girl, may I see that pendant of yours?" The man asked Emily.

Emily's hands didn't leave her pendant, but she clutched it as if she was trying to hide it from him. She stared at the man. He looked like he wouldn't steal it, plus if he did, she and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates would find the man and take it back along with a few other things. Slowly, Emily took her pendant from her neck and handed it to the man.

The man did not run off with the pendant like Emily and Zoro expected him to do. Instead, he put the two pendants side-by-side.

Suddenly, as if by magic, both pendants started to glow. The man moved the connected pendants into Emily's small hands. The glowing lights reflected off her face and put a shocked smile on her face.

Zoro was just as shocked as she was. Never before had he seen anything like that. He started to move his hands to the glowing pendants, but stopped himself in fear of doing something wrong.

The man looked at Emily and asked, "Are you…Emily?"

Emily nodded, partially bringing her attention to the man in front of her.

The man tossed his head back and laughed loudly.

Emily, now completely freaked out, jumped and hid behind Zoro while shaking like a scared puppy.

Zoro laid a hand on her emerald head, slightly calming her down.

The man saw that Emily was shaking in fear behind the swordsman and stopped laughing. "It's been so many years since I last saw you." The man said to Emily.

Zoro looked at his slave, "Is he one of your earlier master's friends?"

Emily shook her head, "No. I've never seen him before in my life."

"You just don't remember me," the man told her, "I don't blame you. You were only a month old when your family died and you left."

"How do you know my family?" Emily asked him.

"That's easy. Your parents moved here a long time ago…Twenty years, I think, and had 2 children. A little boy and you." The man said with a smile.

"Who are you?" Emily asked him.

The man answered, "I am the mayor of Kupeviru. People call me 'Mayor Wilhelm'. I had a feeling that one day you'd come back. Your family has missed you."

"My family missed me? What do you mean?" Emily asked him.

Mayor Wilhelm looked at her confused face, "What? It's been a long time since they've been visited by another Almani."

Emily paused, "What did you just say?"

"It's been a long time?"

"No, after that."

"Since they've been visited?"

"After that."

"By another Almani?"

"Yeah, that part. Why did you call me an Almani?"

"You didn't know? You're the last one left."

"No, that's impossible. They were destroyed 15 years ago."

"Not with what your parents did."

"What did they do?"

"It's a long story. Come with me to my house and I'll tell you."

"Well…" Emily looked up at Zoro.

Zoro smiled, "Go ahead. I got some other business to attend to."

Emily nodded, "Okay, Master Zoro." Emily took the hand that Mayor Wilhelm held in front of her and walked with him to his home.

Zoro walked the opposite way, towards a large building.

- - - -

Kim, Kelly, and Ryan stood over the side of the Marine's ship.

"There it is!" Kim called out, pointing ahead at Kupeviru as it got closer and closer.

"Kupeviru. It's been so long since we last came here." Kelly sighed.

"I know," Ryan said, "Three years. Maybe Mayor Wilhelm will let us get into that house in the woods that's been locked for twelve years."

Kim shook her head, "I doubt it. Last time we tried picking the locks, we got caught and were forced to clean the outside of the house and yards as a punishment."

"Maybe it will be different this time." Kelly told her.

"Yeah! Maybe the mayor will figure out that twelve years is long enough and let us in!" Ryan almost shouted.

A voice from behind the three of them suddenly shouted, "Uchiha! Himura! Glory!"

Kim, Kelly, and Ryan jumped and turned around to see Smoker. "Yes sir?" the kids asked.

"Before you even think about getting onto Kupeviru, I want you to do at least 45 minutes of swordsmanship practice. Starting…now." Smoker told them.

"Yes sir!" Kim, Kelly and Ryan shouted, automatically swinging their swords.

- - - - -

"Ummm…Mayor Wilhelm? Are we closer to your house?" Emily asked him.

Mayor Wilhelm stopped in front of a large house, "We're here." He walked up to the front door of the house and turned the doorknob, "Come on in."

Emily nodded and followed him inside the extremely clean house. A woman was sitting on the chair inside the room that Mayor Wilhelm and Emily walked in.

The woman lowered the book in her hands and stared at the little girl holding the mayor's hands, "Who?"

"Sandy, Ryou and Lilie's daughter has come back." Mayor Wilhelm announced.

The woman dropped her book, "The…Almani?" Mayor Wilhelm nodded his head. Almost instantly, Sandy jumped from her chair and threw her arms around Emily.

Mayor Wilhelm laughed, "This is my wife, Sandy."

"Ummm…nice to meet you." Emily said to the woman clinging onto her.

"You said you knew my parents?" Emily asked Mayor Wilhelm.

The man smiled, nodded, and walked to a drawer. He opened it up, pulled out a picture in a frame, and handed it to Emily, who was now free from Sandy's clutches.

In the picture was a young man and woman, both with green hair. The man's short hair was spiky, his eyes were green, and his muscular arm was around the woman next to him. The woman had the exact same hair as Emily, her eyes were blue, and she had a big smile on her face.

"Are these my…" Emily started to ask.

Mayor Wilhelm nodded, "Those are your parents. The runaway Almani."

Emily blinked, "Runaway Almani?"

"Yup. Sit down on the couch and I'll tell you about them being runaways." Mayor Wilhelm instructed. Without wasting a second, Emily moved to the couch. Mayor Wilhelm moved to the chair.

-ALMANI FLASHBACK- - - - -

A man and woman sat on a stump inside of a forest. Both were upset.

"I can't stand living here anymore. I can't bear living with the other Almani. I want to see the outside." The woman told the man.

The man nodded, "I feel the same way."

"Will we be able to leave any time soon?" The woman asked.

The man thought then nodded, "We'll pack up what we can and leave at midnight."

The woman smiled and hugged him, unaware of the sprites hidden in the trees hearing their plan.

A half an hour before midnight, the man and woman lifted two bags onto their shoulders and quietly opened and closed the front door of their house. The man grabbed the woman's hand and left for the entrance of the village.

They were just three feet away when a loud and angry voice stopped them, "And just where do you think you're going?"

The man and woman turned around to see the king of the Almani along with a few of his guards. The man looked at them, "We can't stay in this town anymore. We're leaving…for the outside."

"I can't allow you to do that." The king told the man.

The man grabbed the woman's hand and looked at her, "Let's go, Lilie!" Before anything else could be said, the man and woman ran through the entrance.

They stopped when they were six yards away from the village. The king and the Almani were standing behind the entrance.

"Ryou! Lilie! Come back before it's too late!" The king called.

Ryou ignored them and continued running farther and farther from the screams and the village, holding Lilie's hand the entire time.

END ALMANI FLASHBACK- - - -

Sanji walked along the docks in the Marina. He used a hand to cover his own mouth to block out the disgusting smell that the Marina had.

Nami was following him and doing the same thing and struggled to keep herself from passing out. For every step she took into the Marina, she regretted more and more about volunteering to help Sanji do some shopping, but then remembered that Kupeviru was an extremely poor town and had none of the latest fashions in their shops.

Both of them finally came to a fish shop and went in. The man behind the counter smiled at Sanji and Nami and waved his left hand, "Welcome. What can I get you?"

Sanji ordered 75 lbs of uncooked fish from the man.

Nami stared at the place where his right arm should have been.

The man turned his attention to Nami, "Young Lady. If you're looking for my arm, it's over there."

The man pointed with his left hand to the end of the shop, at a large see-through box that had a muscular right arm in it.

Nami quickly put a hand over her now gaping mouth, "That's disgusting."

"I know. Lost it when a dolphin came up and just bit it off." The man answered.

"A dolphin?" Sanji asked.

The man nodded, "Yup. Those little bastards can rip your body to shreds if ya aren't careful."

"But why did you put it in here?" Nami asked the man.

The man shrugged, "Got nowhere else to put it."

Sanji shoved the money to buy the fish into the man's left hand and left the shop quickly with Nami. Without stopping, the cook and navigator carried the 75 lbs of fish to the Going Merry. Once inside the ship, Nami and Sanji were able to breathe in the smell of food and a clean kitchen.

Both of them inhaled breath after breath of the ship as they quickly put the fish into the fridge. Once all the fish was placed into the fridge, now closed, the kitchen no longer smelled of fish or any part of the Marina. Both Sanji and Nami stood next to each other, inhaling the clean ship and smoky smell from Sanji's cigarette and didn't move.

"This town stinks. I wonder how people could stand to live here." Nami complained.

- - - -

Zoro took a step into the large building not too far from Mayor Wilhelm's house. The building had only one room and was stuffed with papers and files and shelves. In the middle was a desk with a man sitting behind it with an unlit cigar in his mouth. The man looked up, "Yes? Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for some certain papers." Zoro answered.

The man let out a sigh, "We here in Kupeviru no longer give out information about our citizens unless absolutely necessary. So if you-"

"No." Zoro interrupted, "I'm looking for something else."

The man paused, "And what's that?"

Zoro leaned towards the man and whispered what he wanted, making sure that nobody but him and the man at the counter knew what Zoro wanted.

The man nodded, opened up a nearby file, and handed a paper and pen to Zoro. "Just fill this form out." The man instructed.

Zoro nodded his head and started filling out the form as the man had instructed him to do. It took a few minutes for him to do so and costed him at least 50,000 berries to buy what he filled out the form for. He handed the form back to the man.

The man looked through the paper, stamped it, and shook Zoro's hand, "Congratulations. You have now changed the life of one person for the better."

The man put the paper into a copy machine and gave the copy to Zoro, who put it into his pocket and left the house. Outside of the house was Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp.

"What were you doing in there?" Luffy asked the swordsman.

"It's a surprise." Zoro simply answered.

"Well, where's Emily?" Chopper asked.

"The mayor's house. I'm going to pick her up now." Zoro answered, walking towards Mayor Wilhelm's house.

- - - -

"Mayor Wilhelm? Can you take me to my home?" Emily asked Mayor Wilhelm.

The man nodded and took a key from inside a nearby drawer. He led the emerald haired girl to the front door and opened it to find Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper standing there.

"Yes, Master Zoro?" Emily asked Zoro.

"I'm going to take you back to the ship." Zoro told her.

"I was just about to take her to her house." Mayor Wilhelm told Zoro.

Zoro nodded, "Fine. Go ahead."

Mayor Wilhelm led Emily down a path going through the small forest. Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper followed them. As all of them walked, Mayor Wilhelm entertained Emily by telling her stories of her home in Kupeviru and her family, "When your family was murdered, most of the valuable items from your home was stolen by the group of people that murdered your family. I think the people knew that your family was Almani, but didn't know that they had a baby girl sleeping in a cradle."

"You mean I slept through the entire thing? While my family was being murdered?" Emily asked him.

Mayor Wilhelm nodded, "It was amazing how much of a heavy sleeper you were. You even slept when Shanks came into your house after the men left. The only family members still living were you and your father. 'My daughter…' your father said, lifting his hands towards your cradle, then died. In your cradle was a piece of paper with your name and birth date and the two pendants." Suddenly, he stopped, "We're here."

In front of him stood a small cabin with all its doors and windows boarded and locked up.

"This is my home?" Emily asked Mayor Wilhelm.

The man nodded, "It is. Before I unlock your house, I think it'd be right to visit your family."

Emily nodded and followed him to the backyard where three graves sat. "Why are there three graves? I thought that I only had parents that died?" Emily asked the mayor.

The mayor sadly shook his head, "The 3rd grave belongs to Aron."

"Who's Aron?" Emily asked.

Mayor Wilhelm looked at her, "Your brother."

- - -

"Well, it's been 45 minutes. Let's go." Kim announced to her friends.

Ryan and Kelly nodded and put away their swords. Kim did the same. The three friends called out where they were going as they ran off the Marine's ship.

"And now, to the abandoned house!" Ryan shouted.

"Yeah!" Kim and Kelly shouted cheerfully. Then they started running towards Emily's house.

- - -

"I had a brother?" Emily asked.

Mayor Wilhelm looked even more upset, "Yes. Aron was seven years older than you and was always smiling and laughing. The poor boy died so young and the whole town was upset about that. Now are you ready to go into your home?"

"Yes." Emily answered.

Mayor Wilhelm handed the key to her, "This key unlocks every lock around the doors and windows of the house. I was instructed twelve years ago to lock the doors and windows until you came back."

Mayor Wilhelm then walked from the house to his own. Emily, Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper walked to the front door of Emily's house.

The small girl put the key in the keyhole and turned the key. A click was heard and the lock fell off the door and hit the ground. Emily ignored it, turned the doorknob, and pushed open the door.

The inside of the house was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything inside. Emily and Zoro walked out of the house and to every window. Emily took the locks off of all the boards while Zoro ripped the boards off the windows with his bare hands. They returned to the inside of the house a few seconds later. The sun from the sky shone through the windows and lit up the entire house.

There wasn't as much things in the house as there were in the circus carts that were sent to Haru and Misao, mostly because, like Mayor Wilhelm had explained, most of the items inside were stolen twelve years ago by the people that killed Emily's family. Tables, chairs, and drawers were broken, tipped over, cleaned out, and extremely dusty. They all stood in the living room, which had barely anything in it. The kitchen was practically cleaned of everything but a sink, stove, oven, and years and years of dust and the bathroom was no better.

There were only three other rooms in the house: two bedrooms and an attic, left to explore.

Emily stepped into the larger of the two small bedrooms. She heard footsteps fading behind her. Emily looked behind her and saw that Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper had left her house. She didn't know if she should follow them, but she also didn't move.

Eventually, she shook the thought off and opened a window to let some air in the room. The next thing she did was collapse on the big bed. She hit her head as soon as it met the pillow. Emily lifted up her head and moved the pillow. Under it laid a pure white book full of written words: a diary with the penmanship of a woman.

On a drawer was a very dusty mirror. With a nearby cloth, Emily cleaned the dust off and looked at herself. She looked just like her mother from the picture in Mayor Wilhelm's home. Beside the mirror stood a dusty picture of her parents and Aron, who looked surprisingly like Zoro when he was a kid. In Lilie's arms was a tiny baby girl.

Emily grabbed the picture and the diary then headed for the smaller room. There was only a bed and chest left in the room, aside from twelve years of dust. Emily opened up the chest, but found nothing inside. Sighing, Emily sat down on the bed and heard the sound of something falling to the ground. She jumped off her bed and looked at the floor behind her. Behind her was a small toy pirate. Emily giggled at its goofy painted face and cute painted on clothes.

Emily moved onto her back and dragged herself under the bed. On the sides of the bed sat miniature carved figurines the size of the toy pirate. Two of the figurines were of an emerald haired man and woman with angel wings, the other was of an emerald haired boy with angel wings. There were two other items hidden under the bed: a small bag of marbles and a rolled up treasure map leading to the attic signed by Aron.

- -

Kim, Kelly, and Ryan ran through the forest, down the path towards Emily's house. The three of them stopped and gasped when they saw the cabin unlocked and unboarded. In an instant, the three marines ran up to the front door and opened it up. The three stared in shock at the piles and piles of dust. They walked inside and closed the door behind them.

- - - -

Emily jumped at the front door opening and ran out to the living room. "What are you doing here?" Emily demanded.

"We should ask you the same thing, Pirate-slave." Ryan shot back at her.

"This is my house. And now I want to know why you're in here." Emily demanded.

"It is not your house!" Ryan shouted at the smaller girl.

"This is so my house!"

"It is not! This place has been abandoned for twelve years!"

"I was born in this house and left after my family died in it twelve years ago!"

"So, you lied to me. You aren't really twelve."

"Yes, I am! I was a month old when my family died."

"Then what about your master? Why did he leave?"

"I didn't have a master when I was a baby. I became a slave when I was three."

"Then what is that paper in your left hand?"

Ryan pointed his right index finger to the map in Emily's left hand.

"A map from my brother."

"So, Roronoa Zoro is your brother."

"No he's not! My brother's name is Aron."

"Yeah right."

Now Emily was mad.

"Look, if you're going to keep to keep on acting like this to me, then I want you to get out of my house."

Inside, Emily gasped. It had been so long since she talked to another person like she had just done to Ryan.

Ryan snorted and stormed out of the house.

Kim and Kelly quickly followed him back to the Marine's ship, listening to him mumble angrily about Emily.

Emily ignored Kim, Kelly, and Ryan and walked up to the attic with Aron's treasure map.

The attic was cluttered with many different treasures: chairs, pillows, boxes, a typewriter, books, holiday decorations, toys, and even a small loveseat.

Aron's map led her to a red bag in the corner of the attic with the name "Aron" stitched delicately in black thread, most likely by Lilie. Inside the bag was books of children's legends with beautiful illustrations, a half done figurine of a girl with angel wings, photos of Emily's family including one of just her and Aron.

The bag also included a good amount of drawn photos signed by Aron and a few more diaries: two being Lilie's, one being Aron's, and the final belonging to Ryou. Emily drug the bag to the loveseat and started reading one of Lilie's diaries, hoping to learn more about her race.

- - -

"Lady Pam!" A man running into the dining room of Pam's lair shouted.

"Yes, Bryce?" Pam asked the man in annoyance.

"We…failed on our mission. The men that you controlled were found dead in the ocean." Bryce announced.

Pam smacked her forehead, "Oh goddammit! That was a good chunk of power wasted. Bring Mark into here!"

"Yes, Lady Pam." Bryce said, rushing to Pam's room and grabbing Mark's orb.

"Mark! Get up!" Pam screeched into the orb.

Mark showed his face, "Yes?"

"Where is that Almani brat?" Pam screamed.

"She is now in the town of Kupeviru, alone in the cabin at the edge of the forest." Mark answered.

Pam smirked, "Perfect." Pam put her hands on the pendant, which still had most of Kayleigh's power in it, closed her eyes, and chanted, "Go to Kupeviru and take over anybody you wish except for the Almani girl and get her out of the cabin by any means necessary. Psycho Psycho Transfer."

The magic in the pendant went towards the town of Kupeviru in the fast speed. Pam looked through the window in the room at the cloudy sky and laughed evilly, "Finally. After twelve years I will get the Almani secrets. Be prepared, little girl for soon I will be your master…until the day you die."

- - -

A/N: Well, another chapter is finished. I made up Ryou, Lilie, and Aron (all the other new characters were based off of real people). I'll update soon!


	9. Sudden Changes

Ch.9- Sudden Changes

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, so you can't sue me!

- - - - - -

_5th sun, 19th day of pink poppies  
__(Thursday, August 19)_

_Last night I spent five hours hurling my boomerang into the sea, hoping to hit a Marine's ship. I was so mad at the Marines and what they did to me back in Kupeviru. For every throw I made, I screamed and cried. The entire crew was afraid to come near me, I could tell._

_I finally decided that I couldn't get rid of my anger with my boomerang, so I started to attack the ship with my bare fists. I don't blame Master Zoro, Mr. Luffy, and Miss Robin for what they did next. I just blame everything on the Marines. It's all their fault…_

- - -

Emily sat on top of the loveseat in the attic of her house reading one of Lilie's diaries. It was difficult for her to do it for she was short on light, but Emily eventually got a few entries read. She put the diary back in Aron's bag and went back to the two bedrooms. She grabbed Aron's figurines and marbles and the picture in Ryou and Lilie's room and climbed back to the attic. She moved the figurines and marbles into an empty box labeled "Ryou's guns".

Emily then moved the box and picture into Aron's bag and left all the items on the loveseat. She left the cabin for Ryou, Lilie, and Aron's graves. All the graves were clean and didn't feel right, so she grabbed a handful of flowers from around the forest and laid them on the graves. She knelt by them and began to pray.

- - - -

The circus carts had finally gotten to Yokuna.

Joe drove the carts through the town, passed the gaping townspeople, to the Morimura mansion. Joe hopped off the front cart and calmly walked to the front door. He pushed his right index finger into the doorbell and patiently waited for it to open. The door opened and both Haru and Misao stood before him.

"Hello. Are you two Haru and Misao?" Joe asked the younger girls. Both girls nodded. Joe smiled at them, "My name is Takenaka Joe from Redding. Your sister, Emily became the owner of the Sky Gypsies' carts and asked me to bring them to you. Congratulations. They're yours." Haru and Misao looked at the large carts behind him and screamed.

Almost immediately, Mr. and Mrs. Morimura dashed to the doorstep.

"What's the matter, girls?" Mrs. Morimura asked.

"Mother, Emily sent us the traveling circus carts. They're ours!" Haru screamed.

Mr. Morimura was shocked, but smiled at his daughters, "Then we will keep them." He turned his attention to Joe, "Can you help bring the carts to the backyard and put the oxen in the stables?"

Joe tipped his hat, "Yes sir!"

Joe led the oxen to the backyard and with the help of some servants, put them into proper stables. He then handed Misao the key to the carts and explained about them.

"Would you like to come inside for some tea and to relax your tired body?" Mrs. Morimura asked Joe.

Joe smiled at her, "Thank you. I'd like that very much." Joe went inside the mansion while Haru and Misao went inside the main cart.

"Wow…" Misao gasped from the inside of Mama and Papa's cart, "I can't believe we own this." She picked up Emily's note from off the desk and frowned at the written words.

"Hey, Misao! We can use this place as an alternate home when Mother and Father have their boring parties!" Haru shouted.

Misao stuffed the note in her pocket and smiled at her older sister, "Yeah, you're right."

- -

Ryan stomped to his bedroom and plopped himself onto his bed with a grunt. "Stupid Pirate-slave!" Ryan grumbled.

"Well, maybe she wasn't lying. Maybe it was her house that we were going into." Kelly told him.

Ryan looked at her, "Yeah, but didn't she ever learn anything from school about how to treat people in the Navy?"

"Ryan, she became a slave at three, how _could_ she go to school?" Kim asked him.

Ryan paused. He knew that Kim was right. Slaves never did go to school…unless they went before becoming slaves and, as he thought, there'd be no way that a three-year-old could go to school.

"See? It wasn't her fault she acted like she did. You have to go apologize to her." Kelly told Ryan.

Ryan knew that he didn't have a choice but to apologize, "All right. I'll do it…just give me a few minutes."

- - - -

Meanwhile, on the top deck of the Marine's ship, two male Marines were sitting around talking when the magic from Pam's pendant hit them. The magic took over their body and minds and had them run off towards Emily's house with small flame-throwers hidden in their uniforms. Strange smiles were pasted on their faces and the magic in their bodies prevented them from stopping until they got to Emily's cabin. The possessed Marine's hid in the bushes and fired a few small flames on the cabin and stayed put.

- - -

Ryan stood up from his bed and told Kim and Kelly that he was going to apologize to Emily. He asked his two best friends to stay on the ship so he could apologize without somebody interrupting him. The girls agreed and went to their room. Ryan walked off of the ship and towards Emily's house. He played his apology in his head repeatedly so he wouldn't forget what to say.

He was almost there when the smell of smoke got to him. He quickly ran towards the place where the smoke came from: Emily's house. The house was set aflame, but there were no screams from inside, so he knew that Emily wasn't inside. He stared in shock at the burning house, wondering where Emily was. Then he saw her.

- - -

Emily was still praying for Ryou, Lilie, and Aron when the Marines set her house aflame. She never even knew about her house until she smelled the smoke getting heavy. She turned around and screamed. Her home looked like a fireball. Without thinking, she ran passed Ryan and into the cabin. She passed the flames as she ran up to the attic.

Emily was relieved to find that Aron's bag was untouched by the flames. She grabbed the bag, rushed down the stairs, and dashed out the cabin entrance before the cabin completely collapsed into a pile of burned ashes.

The possessed Marines felt the magic leave their bodies. When it left, they felt extremely weak then fainted. One of their hats flew from their heads and landed by Ryan's feet.

Emily felt tears sting her eyes as she looked at her house, once a standing Almani home, now a pile of ashes. She looked at Ryan, the only person she saw by her house, and saw him staring at her blankly. She stuck her hands into her pockets and put her boomerang together. She slowly started to walk to him, allowing her stinging tears to roll down her cheeks, "You…"

"Hey Emily, I wanted to…" Ryan started.

"You did this!" Emily screamed.

"N-no I didn't." Ryan stuttered.

"How could you destroy something so precious to me?" Emily cried.

"I…" Ryan started.

"Well, Marine. You killed a part of me and now you will pay the price!" Emily shouted. Before Ryan could say or do anything else, Emily hurled her boomerang at him.

Ryan tried to block it with his arms, but the blades on the boomerang cut them.

"Emily! Listen to me!" Ryan shouted while wincing at the pain in his arms.

Emily ignored him and threw her boomerang a few more times before it got stuck inside of a tree.

By now, Ryan had bleeding cuts on both his arms and legs. He regretted not bringing a weapon along with him to defend himself instead of having a younger girl beat the crap out of him. He also thought that since her boomerang was stuck, she'd stop hurting him. She didn't.

A red glow outlined Emily's body. Her fists were clenched and her tears kept coming. She ran up to him and started beating and punching him. She, like the other Almani before her, was extremely quick at attacking. The poor boy couldn't even defend himself from the angry Almani. She pinned him to the ground and kept beating him, ignoring his cries of pain.

- -

"Is somebody going to get Emily? Dinner is almost ready." Sanji called from the kitchen.

Zoro, Robin, and Chopper stood up and walked off the Going Merry. All three of them seemed happy and calm as they walked towards Emily's now burnt cabin, but were shocked at what they saw when they got there.

The burnt house didn't shock them for they knew that houses, especially cabins, could be burned to the ground easily. No, what shocked them was seeing Emily on top of a nearly unconscious boy, beating him with her fists and having a red glow along her body. None of the three moved until they heard the snap of a bone.

Both Zoro and Robin pried Emily off a now unconscious Ryan. They dragged her away, but she still kept trying to rush back to Ryan to finish what she started.

"Chopper! Now!" Zoro yelled at the reindeer behind him.

Chopper stuck a needle into Emily's skin and released the anesthetic into her body. In a few seconds, Emily fell unconscious to the ground.

Zoro picked up Emily's body, Aron's bag, and got the boomerang out of the tree then carried them back to the Going Merry. Chopper and Robin stayed behind to take a look at Ryan.

His arm was badly broken, he had a pretty good concussion, and he lost tons of blood, but he was still alive.

Robin looked behind the bushes at the two unconscious Marines. They weren't injured, so there was no way that Emily could have touched them.

A call from the distance came, "Ryan! Ryan! Glory Ryan, are you out there?" Robin and Chopper dashed towards the Going Merry to avoid getting caught by the Marines…especially since Robin already had a price on her head.

"Ryan?" Kim called.

"Where is he? I thought you said that he was going to apologize to Emily." Tashigi asked both Kim and Kelly. Kelly stopped and screamed.

Kim and Tashigi looked at what Kelly screamed at and also screamed. The three female Marines ran to the bleeding figure in the dirt. After 30 seconds of unsuccessful callings, Kim and Kelly quickly but carefully carried their best friend to the Marine's ship and then to town for a doctor. Tashigi looked behind the bushes at the two unconscious Marines now waking up.

"What just happened here?" Tashigi asked.

One of the men shrugged, "I don't even remember being here."

"Well, you should have heard the sound of somebody severely injuring my thirteen-year-old cousin!" Tashigi yelled at them.

"But we didn't…" The other man started.

"Enough! Go back to the Marine ship. When Ryan wakes up, we'll know who beat him. And remember this: if he doesn't wake up, I will not hesitate to give you the punishment of a lifetime." Tashigi interrupted. The men nodded and followed her back to the ship.

- - -

"Oh my God! What happened to her?" Luffy cried out as Zoro walked onto the Going Merry with an unconscious Emily in his arms.

"Her house was burned to the ground…and she must have thought that an unarmed Marine by her house did it so she attacked him and kept attacking long after he fell unconscious…so Chopper put some anesthetic in her." Zoro answered.

Zoro carried her back to the female's quarters and placed her on the hammock. He placed Aron's bag and her boomerang at the other side of the room. With a sigh, he left the girl in the room.

"She'll be out for at least three hours." Chopper told the crew.

"Emily really attacked a Marine?" Nami asked.

Robin nodded, "She wouldn't stop attacking no matter what. Zoro and I had to hold her back after she broke his arm with her fists."

Nobody said anything after that, mostly because they didn't know what to say. Emily, a shy and sweet little girl, acting brutal. It was almost impossible to believe that someone so sweet could change within just a few hours.

"She just broke the Marine's arm?" Sanji asked.

Chopper shook his head, "Also gave him a concussion and he lost a lot of blood. He was barely alive when we pried Emily off of him." Nobody wanted to speak after that.

- -

Kim and Kelly sat in their bedroom, huddled together, shivering. A doctor from Kupeviru spent an hour stopping the blood, putting the broken arm in a splint, and treating the concussion on Ryan. Ryan was still unconscious and covered almost completely with bandages. Tashigi and Smoker refused to let the two girls in the same room as Ryan to avoid having them hurt him accidentally, but the girls were updated on their best friend's condition. They just wanted to know who hurt him.

- -

Three hours passed and Emily slowly opened her eyes. She looked around the room she laid in. It wasn't any room in her cabin, which she'd forgotten was now a pile of ashes. Suddenly, she remembered what had happened back at her cabin. She remembered the flames and Ryan standing by the burning house, staring and not bothering to run inside and see if anyone was inside.

She quickly jumped out of her hammock and ran to Aron's bag. She opened it up and pulled out a picture of Ryou, Lilie, Aron, and herself and pushed it to her own chest. Tears rolled down her cheeks, "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry, Mother…Father…Aron…but I promise to get revenge…I will punish the Marines…I promise."

The door to the bedroom opened, but Emily didn't move her head. She only turned her head when a hand rested on her left shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Zoro asked. Emily's tears rolled faster as she mumbled a response. "What did you say?" Zoro asked, leaning his head towards Emily's.

"It's all their fault…" Emily softly cried.

"What? Who are you talking about?" Zoro asked.

"The Marines! They destroyed my house…they sent the boy who was supposed to be my friend to destroy one of the most precious things to me and myself…" Emily cried, a little louder this time.

"Emily…" Zoro started.

"They sent him to kill me because I was the last of the Almani. I don't care that he was unarmed. He deserved what he got!" Emily interrupted.

"Wait, Emily…I want you to tell me what he did to you at your home." Zoro said to her.

"He burned one of the most precious things to me…him and the Marines…I'll kill them!" Emily screamed. The red glow started to come back as she started to run towards the exit of her room. She was fast, but Zoro was already holding her back, wincing at her struggling and screaming.

"Chopper! Get in here!" Zoro shouted over Emily's screams. In two seconds, Chopper ran into the room with the needle of anesthetic in his left hoof and the rest of the pirates following behind him. Robin and Zoro held the small girl still while Chopper stuck the needle into her skin. She was out in a matter of seconds.

Zoro picked her up, "What do we do with her?"

Everybody thought about it. There was no room on the ship that would be safe for Emily and that would avoid having her run off the ship for a Marine's…except for one, but it was a room that Luffy never planned on using: the jail. Every pirate ship had at least a small jail towards the bottom of the ship that was used for prisoners.

Luffy remembered when he was seven-years-old and Shanks was in his village. He remembered sneaking onto the ship while Shanks' crew was in the bar eating and getting drunk off their asses. Luffy remembered visiting every room on the ship: the storage room, the bedrooms, the lounge, the kitchen (he stole a handful of meat from the fridge), and the jail.

The jail was empty and smelled strongly of alcohol and other disgusting smells that he didn't recognize. A hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

The little boy screamed and turned around to see Shanks.

The red haired man laughed as the little boy yelled. Shanks explained to Luffy that the jail was made to hold prisoners, but his crew only used it to lock a crew member that was way too drunk inside.

The Going Merry had a jail and it was still clean and never touched. Nobody wanted to use it, but there wasn't any other place to put Emily.

Zoro carried the small girl to the jail.

Nami placed a sheet and pillow on the floor and a blanket over Emily's body after Zoro set it on the pillow and sheet.

"I'm sorry, Emily." Zoro whispered to Emily before leaving the jail with the rest of the crew and locking the door behind him.

Emily woke up a few hours later muttering about killing the Marines, so none of the Straw Hat Pirates felt right about letting her out for the night.

Sanji did, however, give her a snack to eat before everyone decided to go to bed.

Zoro allowed Emily out of the jail and off the ship if she was accompanied by another crew member the next day. She didn't move.

The day after, the Going Merry left Kupeviru. Emily refused to say a good-bye to Mayor Wilhelm, Sandy, Ryou, Lilie, and Aron. Emily cried for seven hours after the ship left Kupeviru about destroying the Marines, so none of the crew let her out of the jail until she calmed down.

Eventually, Emily calmed down, and Luffy let her out of the jail. She didn't say anything to any of the crew, just walked to Nami's orange trees and sat behind them with her boomerang like she normally did. She didn't even touch her flute or speak a word the entire time…unless she mumbled about destroying the Marines.

As she thought, the rest of the crew was a little scared of her. Sometimes everyone would keep a long distance from her to avoid saying the wrong thing and have her screaming and jumping off the ship.

Sanji offered her green apples to eat, but she didn't even look at him, just at the sea and her boomerang.

As the evening came up, Emily threw her boomerang into the sea as if the Marines were there and she was attacking them.

All the Straw Hat Pirates stayed away from her as she screamed and cried about the Marines. After five hours, the anger was still inside her body, so she used her bare fists and turned them against the Going Merry.

In an instant, the crew tried holding her still so Chopper could give her some anesthetic, but she kept moving around wildly.

Finally, Zoro walked up to her and slapped her so hard that she fell to the ground. He stared at his hand in shock, never in his life had he slapped a girl, especially a child.

Emily quit moving and she was silent.

Robin started yelling at Emily about how she'd been acting, while Luffy locked her up in the jail. She was silent for the rest of the night.

- - -

"Where is that Almani brat?" Pam screamed through the halls.

Lyssa and Sabrina, who sat by her, winced.

"Maybe she knew that Sabrina was so ugly and she killed herself to avoid seeing Sabrina." Lyssa suggested.

"Shut up!" Sabrina screamed, "Maybe she killed herself because she heard about Lyssa being so damn fat and was afraid that she'd be crushed under the huge layers of fat."

Fists began to fly between the sisters. Within a few seconds, items flew around the room and a vein began to pop on Pam's forehead, "Enough!" She turned to Mark, "What happened? Where is the Almani brat?"

"The magic failed, although one of the most precious things to her was destroyed." Mark answered.

Pam grunted, "So we'll need a more…stronger creature. I'll just have to get Jamie." She left for the dungeons.

- - -

Emily was sitting in the jail crying about the way she'd acted. She was upset that her home was burned to the ground and she saw Ryan standing by the burning house, but it didn't necessarily mean that he burned her house…and she beat him to a bloody pulp. When she was younger, she vowed to never beat up anyone she considered a friend, and just two days ago, so broke her vow.

The jail was dark except for a tiny bit of light from the other side of the door. Emily looked to her right and saw an emerald haired woman with tears in her eyes. The jail door opened and the jail filled with light. Emily slowly looked behind her and saw Zoro frowning.

"I'm sorry, Emily." Zoro whispered.

Emily shook her head, "Don't be. I deserved what I got. I've also been hurt more than you hurt me, so I just got what was coming to me."

"You do know that the house burning was probably not that boy's fault." Zoro said to her.

Emily nodded weakly, "Is Ryan okay?"

Zoro shrugged, "I have no clue. But you did beat him pretty good a few days ago."

Emily's tears kept flowing, "I'm so sorry, Master Zoro. I shouldn't have acted the way I did."

"It's okay. It happens to everybody." Zoro told her, "It's already 11:00, are you ready to go to bed? Can you sleep in your bedroom without screaming?"

Emily nodded, "Yes, Master Zoro."

Zoro smiled and patted her head, "Then go to bed."

Emily smiled for the first time in days and walked off to her room. She didn't speak a word to Nami and Robin as she moved into her hammock and went to sleep. Before her eyes closed completely, the emerald haired woman stood by Emily's bed and was now smiling. The little girl blinked and the woman was gone.

The next morning, Emily opened her eyes and looked around the room. Nami and Robin weren't in the room. Aron's bag was near the bags that held her contest money and luxuries. Emily went to one of the bags and pulled out an extra pair of clothes and brushed her hair. After her hair ribbon was placed in her emerald hair, she went to the lounge.

To her surprise, none of the Straw Hat Pirates were afraid of her…in fact, they all acted as if nothing ever happened even though she tried to apologize for how she acted.

With a smile on his face, Sanji placed a plate of pancakes in front of her.

Emily thanked him and started to eat. After eating, she moved to Nami's orange trees and sat behind them, holding her flute and practicing a few tunes.

Zoro stood inside the lounge with the rest of the crew minus Emily and the form he filled out and paid for in Kupeviru. Nami and Robin looked over the form then at Zoro.

"Zoro…when did you fill this out?" Nami asked the swordsman.

"A few days ago when she was talking to the mayor of Kupeviru." Zoro answered.

"What is it?" Usopp asked. Robin handed him the paper. Usopp, Luffy, Sanji, and Chopper looked over it and looked shocked.

"Why didn't you tell her earlier?" Sanji asked Zoro.

"She was too busy crying and screaming about the Marines. It didn't seem right." Zoro answered.

"Are you going to tell her now?" Robin asked.

Zoro nodded, took the paper from the crew, and walked up to the deck.

"Can I do something for you, Master Zoro?" Emily asked the swordsman that sat down next to her.

Zoro shook his head, "Don't call me 'Master Zoro' anymore. Just call me 'Zoro'."

Emily looked confused, "But I have to call you that. You're my master."

Zoro handed her the paper, "Read this, Emily."

Emily obeyed him and read over the paper. All of a sudden, she found it hard to breathe.

"I-is t-this r-real?" Emily asked wide-eyed.

Zoro nodded, "You're free, Emily."

"Really?" Emily asked. Zoro nodded. "Thank you!" Emily cried, throwing her arms around Zoro and crying.

Zoro smiled and patted her head. After Emily let go of him, Zoro walked to the inside of the ship.

Emily looked over the edge of the ship and wiped away her tears, "I'm free…finally." She put her flute to her lips and continued to play. The woman stood not too far away with and smiled before disappearing.

- - -

A/N: Okay, I'm not sure if the Going Merry OR Shanks' ship has a jail or not, so I just made that part up.


	10. Pop Rocks and Hot Sauce and Pranks! Oh m...

Ch.10- Pop Rocks and Hot Sauce and Pranks! Oh my!

Disclaimer-One Piece isn't mine and it isn't property of 4Kids entertainment. I don't give a damn what they say, it belongs to the one and only Eiichiro Oda.

- - - - - -

_7th sun, 2nd day of blue morning glories  
__(Saturday, September 2)_

_Today, Sanji came across one of the only three Dark Diamond bracelets in the world…and it came from inside a fish. He cleaned off the bracelet and gave it to Nami after dinner to impress her. I can tell he really likes her even though he goes after other girls and women. He was successful at impressing Nami. She slipped the bracelet on her wrist, looked around the room to see if anyone was in the lounge (everyone else was in different rooms and I was hiding behind a corner…I'm surprised she didn't see me), and kissed him. Sanji looked like he died and went to heaven._

_I no longer have a hate for the Marines. I know that it's not their fault for what happened to my house…it has to be Pam's fault. I have a huge feeling that she did it and completely destroyed my friendship with a Marine. I'll never get to look at Kim, Kelly, and Ryan again and consider them friends…_

- -- -

The paper boy came a few days after Zoro freed Emily. Inside the paper was a wanted poster of Pam. At first Emily, Luffy, and Chopper thought that she was a monster instead of a woman and in a way she was. She had the powers of a Devil Fruit, so she was considered a monster. The price on her head was 8,000,000 berries and the paper explained that she controlled a few Marines that led to another getting severely injured. The price had been raised 3,000,000 berries since she was first wanted seven years ago.

The latest attack took place nearly two weeks ago, in Kupeviru. That proved that Pam was half responsible for the Marines' possession and burning of Emily's cabin, but the other half was Emily's fault. She, not the possessed men, attacked Ryan. She wasn't even sure if he was still alive by now.

The rest of the Straw Hat Pirates tried to assure her that he was still alive and recovering, but she still wasn't so sure.

- - -

Ryan had been in a coma ever since he fell unconscious back in Kupeviru. The doctor wasn't sure if Ryan was truly going to live, but there was a strong possibility that he might. The Marine's ship left Kupeviru three days after the Going Merry did.

Kim and Kelly visited his room often, as did Tashigi, hoping that he'd awaken and be fine. Finally, as Kim and Kelly were visiting him, Ryan's eyes opened.

Kim and Kelly screamed and ran to get Tashigi and Smoker.

Tashigi ran to her cousin's side and held his left hand, "Are you okay, Ryan?" Ryan nodded his head and noticed that he wasn't by Emily's burnt cabin…in fact, he wasn't even in Kupeviru at all and Emily was nowhere in sight.

Before he could say anything, Tashigi asked him, "Ryan, who beat you like this? Who did it?"

Ryan closed his eyes and tried to remember. Then, like a movie playing, he saw Emily screaming at him then hurling her boomerang at him. He saw the red outline on her body that made him shudder. He saw Emily running at him then beating him with her fists quickly. There was no escaping the truth, "Emerald Emily."

- - - -

Later that day, Sanji took out one of the fish he caught the day before and cut it open. He felt something hit his knife, so he cut around the item and took out a bracelet with black stones. "How the hell could a fish eat this thing?" He asked, holding the bracelet up to the only light in the kitchen.

The door opened and a hand grabbed the bracelet from his hands.

Sanji turned around and saw both Robin and Emily. Robin was holding the sticky bracelet in her hands.

"Wow…a Dark Diamond Bracelet." Emily gasped.

Sanji looked confused, "Dark Diamond Bracelet?"

Robin nodded, "The stones on the bracelet look pure black, but become white diamonds when the person wearing the bracelet is in trouble. They begin the shine depending upon the rage and determination inside a person and it adds power to the person wearing it. The brighter it is, the stronger the power will be."

"Yeah," Emily added, "And there are only three in the entire world. If all three are used in a battle, the wearers of the bracelets will be invincible in a battle."

Robin handed the bracelet back to Sanji and left the kitchen.

Sanji looked at the bracelet and started washing it off in the sink.

"You're going to give that to Nami, aren't you?" Emily asked him. Sanji blushed. "What? It's obvious that you like her and since it's a bracelet and you're a man, you'd refuse to wear it and give it to someone you love to impress her." Emily told him.

"Did your mother talk to you about love?" Sanji asked the smaller girl.

Emily frowned, "My mother died with my father and brother when I was a month old."

Sanji paused, "Oh…right. Well, what about your parent's from the circus?"

Emily giggled, "Papa believed that I was too young for love. Mama told me that if you have something to impress somebody you love, then go for it." She turned around and headed for the door. She turned her head once there, "Oh, and in case you're wondering…I know where the other two are." Then she left.

- - - -

Sanji waited for the rest of the crew minus Nami to leave the kitchen after dinner. He then told Nami to closer her eyes then placed the bracelet on her free wrist.

Nami opened her eyes and gasped. Her eyes widened when Sanji told her that it was rare: one of the only three Dark Diamond Bracelets in the world. It was a gift of love, she decided. It wouldn't be if it wasn't rare or expensive. He loved her and she just realized that.

Nami looked around the room, checking if anyone was around and seeing nobody. Then she kissed Sanji.

At first the cook didn't know how to react. This was, honestly, the first time a woman had actually kissed him. Then he got the message and deepened the kiss, not caring a single bit if anyone came down and saw him. He was happy.

- - - -

_3rd sun, 5th day of blue morning glories  
__(Tuesday, September 5)_

_**WANTED!  
**__**EMERALD EMILY  
**__**PRICE: 40,000,000 berries**_

_I am wanted. For the first time in my life, I've been wanted for something other than being an Almani or a slave. I guess Ryan survived my attack and is recovering, but we won't ever be friends. I know he will never forgive me for what I've done to him. My wanted poster looks really funny. The only picture of me the Marine's have is the one from the festival in Nanahana and since both Ryan and Miki are in the picture, there's a circle around my body to show who I am. I bet that Misao and Haru are laughing right now._

_Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro say that now that I've got a price on my head, I have to start learning how to be a pirate. I've been traveling with them for months and I don't see what I have to learn, but they still insist on giving me "lessons" so I can become a true pirate. I now hear Luffy calling me. The lessons are going to start…_

- -

The paper boy came by a few days after Sanji gave the bracelet to Nami.

Zoro was the first one to see Emily's wanted poster and laughed harder than he ever did in his life. He laughed so hard that he had tears running down his face and had problems breathing. The rest of the crew stared at him, confused.

"What's so funny?" Nami asked him.

Zoro showed the poster to the rest of the crew and within seconds, the Going Merry was filled with uncontrollable laughter.

It was the first time that any of the pirates saw a person circled in a wanted poster. It was hilarious, almost like a joke. The Straw Hat Pirates could almost hear laughing from anyone on land or sea. Umiryuu even laughed when Emily showed him the poster. And because of the wanted poster, Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro wanted to teach Emily how to become a true pirate.

Zoro just wanted to fix her speech and confidence, but Luffy and Usopp's lessons were…much different from Zoro's.

"Now, in order to be a pirate, we first need to work on your confidence." Zoro told her.

"My confidence?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, you know that little guy that tells you to do the right thing." Luffy told her.

"That's a conscience, idiot." Zoro said to his captain. Then he turned to Emily, "When somebody asks you a question, don't hesitate to answer. And if you have something to say, don't be afraid to say it."

"Alright." Emily answered.

Zoro shook his head, "Now, for the next lesson. Don't be so polite."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked him.

"Well…instead of saying 'Alright', say 'Okay'." Zoro told her.

"Ummm…okay." Emily said.

"Good. Now, instead of saying 'shut up', I want you to say 'shut the hell up'." Zoro said, "Now you try saying that."

"Ummm…s-shut the hell up." Emily stuttered.

Zoro shrugged, "Good, but could use some work. I'll give you another lesson tomorrow." Then he walked to the other side of the ship and fell asleep. Now it was Luffy and Usopp's turn.

"Now, to be a pirate, you have to have a fighting weapon." Luffy told her.

"I do." Emily answered, "I fight with a boomerang."

Luffy paused for a moment, "Oh yeah."

"The next thing you have to do is something that all pirates do." Usopp told her.

"Steal treasure from other ships?" Emily guessed.

Both Usopp and Luffy shook their heads, "Drink."

"As in, drink alcohol?" Emily asked the older boys.

Usopp nodded, "In order to be a pirate, you have to drink at least a mug of grog."

"Really?" Emily asked.

Usopp nodded again, "Would I lie to a cute little girl like you?"

"Yes." Emily answered. She was not going to fall for this lie no matter how hard Usopp and Luffy tried to make her do it.

"Emily, I'm serious. All pirates drink."

"But I'm not at the legal drinking age. I'm only twelve."

"Only one mug."

"No. I'm not doing it. I don't care if I have to wait for years to be a pirate. I'm not drinking until I'm at the legal age!"

Luffy pasted a smirk on his face.

"Emily, I'm the captain and everyone on the ship has to obey me and I'm telling you to drink a mug of grog."

Both Luffy and Usopp then drug her to the kitchen and were relieved to see that Sanji wasn't there.

Luffy held Emily down while Usopp poured some grog into a clean mug. "Now, will you drink?" Luffy asked her.

"No! I won't do it!" Emily yelled.

"Then we'll have to use force." Usopp laughed and moved the mug towards her lips. Tears began to spill from Emily's eyes. Both of them were acting like her masters when she was still a slave.

The mug stopped when it was only half an inch away from her lips and got pulled back.

"That's enough!" Sanji yelled, taking the mug from Usopp's hands. Then with a few good kicks, Emily was freed and Luffy and Usopp were out of the kitchen.

Emily was still crying, but stopped after a bit of coaxing and an offering of two green apples.

She found out, later on, that Luffy and Usopp were just playing a joke on her. And they weren't going to stop. In three days, Luffy and Usopp were playing prank after prank on her.

She had water dumped on her head from the crow's nest while she sitting behind Nami's orange trees, crushed peaches were placed in her shoes when she was taking a nap in her room, and a sticky item was placed in her hair.

The sticky item was the one Emily hated the most. Luffy and Usopp wrapped the item (it was a type of gum) around the bottom of her hair.

Emily, Nami, and Robin tried pulling and brushing out the gum, but it did no good. Both women had to carefully cut Emily's hair to get the gum out. By the time they finished, Emily's hair was an inch shorter. Emily knew that the pranks weren't going to stop, so now it was her turn.

The next day, the Straw Hat Pirates entered the town of Anderson. Robin stayed on the ship while the others went into Anderson.

Emily went into a local store. A group of boys around her age were trying out free samples of a red candy. Emily walked to the stand and put a piece of the candy in her mouth. She jumped when it popped on her tongue.

The oldest boy laughed, "The Pop Rocks claim another victim."

"Pop Rocks?" Emily asked.

The boy looked at her, "Yeah, they pop in your mouth…or in your stomach if you swallow them too fast."

"Really?" Emily asked with a smirk.

"Yeah," the boy answered, "I know. I tried it before. I even glued them into big chunks with sugar and water and swallowed it too fast and it popped in my stomach. I had a stomachache for a whole day." The boy left the store with his friends.

Emily smirked, "Payback time." She bought a few bags of Pop Rocks and left for the Going Merry.

Sanji was already back and looked surprised at the small girl walking into his kitchen with bags of Pop Rocks.

Emily talked Sanji into cooking ham for dinner and asked him not to tell anyone about what she was planning on doing with the Pop Rocks. She spent three hours gluing the Pop Rocks together with sugar and water to form cut pieces of ham and save the rest of Usopp's Mad Dog Hot Sauce for the second prank.

Before dinner was served, Emily wrote a note on a piece of paper and taped it to the bottom of the plate with the Pop Rocks and hid it on her lap, under the table waiting to use it. She waited until Luffy was talking and laughing at something that Chopper said before switching Luffy's plate of chopped ham with the Pop Rocks and returning to her seat before being noticed. Emily hid the plate under her seat. Now all she had to do was wait.

As she predicted, Luffy shoved all the Pop Rocks in his mouth and swallowed them quickly. The popping started going a few seconds later.

Luffy cried out in pain at the popping in his stomach.

Usopp used his telescope and looked at the inside of Luffy's stomach. He started laughing at the little candies popping in the captain's stomach. He didn't even notice Emily putting a few drops of the Mad Dog Hot Sauce in his drink.

Usopp downed his drink the second Emily sat in her chair. In just half a second, his mouth was on fire. He ran around the ship with Luffy, screaming for water.

Sanji gave it to him, but the burning only got worse.

Nami took the hot sauce container and read part of the label out loud, "To stop burning, do not use water. Use sugar."

Before any of the two could get to the kitchen, Sanji presented Usopp with half a cup of sugar. Usopp quickly downed it and the burning stopped.

The popping in Luffy's stomach stopped and he placed his hands on his stomach, "My stomach hurts."

Zoro noticed the paper under the plate, picked it up, read it, and laughed.

"What does it say?" Chopper asked the swordsman.

Zoro took a deep breath and read out loud, "Payback is a bitch."

Chopper, Nami, Robin, and Sanji laughed. Luffy and Usopp turned their gazes at Emily, who was struggling to keep herself from laughing.

"You…" Luffy started to say.

Usopp looked shocked, "You didn't…"

Emily smirked, "I did. Remember: Payback is a bitch."

Zoro laughed harder, "Emily…"

"Yes?" Emily asked him.

"Congratulations. You are now officially a pirate." Zoro told her.

"Cool." Emily answered with a smile.

Luffy and Usopp didn't say anything to her for the rest of the night.

A few hours after dinner was over, Emily put something on her right wrist, and walked to the lounge with Lilie's earliest diary, and started reading it. Before she finished one entry, Sanji and Nami stopped in front of her with their mouths wide open.

"Where did you get that Dark Diamond Bracelet?" Nami asked, pointing at Emily's wrist.

"I found it and the other one when I was three." Emily answered.

"So, you know where the last one is?" Nami asked.

Emily nodded.

"Do you have it with you?" Sanji asked, hoping that she did.

Emily shook her head, "It's with my sister, Misao."

"You found the bracelets when you were three? How did you do that?" Nami asked.

"You really wanna hear the story?" Emily asked the navigator. Nami nodded. "Okay." Emily said, putting Lilie's diary down.

Sanji pulled up two stools for him and Nami.

"The story pretty much starts on the first day I met Misao. We were both three and old enough to do slave's work. The biggest difference between my sister and I is that we aren't even related. I was adopted into slavery and she was born into it. Misao's mother had died a year earlier and I was assigned to sleep in the same room as Misao, her father, and a few others…"

FLASHBACK- - - - - -

Three-year-old Emily had first met Misao in the parlor of their first master's house with a group of kids their age and older. None of them were allowed to sit. The master explained what each slave had to do and some punishments they may receive if they disobey their orders. Both Emily and Misao were assigned to work in the house, scrubbing the floors and dishes by hand.

Both girls were quiet for a while, even after they were left alone.

Misao finally broke the silence with crying as she dipped her scrubbing brush in the warm, soapy water in the bucket by the two girls.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked the crying girl.

Misao kept crying, "It's not fair. Our promise was broken." Misao explained to Emily about her mother and twin sister dying from disease a year before. Misao, her mother, and her twin promised that they'd all work together since their mother worked in the kitchen and the twins were young, but now it couldn't happen.

"It's okay." Emily convinced, "You can work with me and pretend that I'm your twin."

Misao smiled and shook her head, "It's okay. Your family probably wouldn't like it if you were my sister."

Emily shook her own head, "I don't have a family. They died when I was a baby. A pirate took me to an orphanage and one of the men from this house took me from the orphanage, claiming to improve my reading and writing skills."

Misao's eyes widened, "You can read and write? We aren't supposed to know how!"

Emily smiled, "Well, I do."

Misao giggled, "I don't want you to be my sister…just my best friend." Emily nodded. Emily was introduced to Misao's father later that day and she instantly knew she liked him. It only took a few weeks before the girls decided to call each other sisters instead of best friends.

A few days later, the two "sisters" found two bracelets with black stones inside the well outside of the house. Both girls found them inside the bucket as they pulled it out of the well. Their eyes sparkled as they looked at the delicate bracelets. They slipped, or attempted to slip, the bracelets on their wrists, but the bracelets were way too big.

"Why are you taking so long to get water?" A loud voice screamed from the kitchen.

Misao and Emily jumped and stuffed the bracelets into their dress pockets. Then they both brought the bucket of water into the kitchen, avoiding having any of the other slaves or any of the overseers seeing the bracelets. Later that night, when only Misao, Misao's father, and Emily were alone, the girls showed him their bracelets.

He stared in surprise at the bracelets, "I don't believe it…"

"What?" The girls asked him.

Misao's father picked both girls up and placed them on his knees, "You girls just found two of the three Dark Diamond Bracelets in the world."

"Dark Diamond Bracelets?" Misao asked.

Her father smiled and told the story of the bracelets. He explained every detail in words that both girls could understand (Emily was a bit smarter than Misao). "Now, don't show any of the bracelets to any other slave, master, or overseer. They'd steal them and keep the power for themselves." He told the girls.

Misao and Emily nodded.

"We'll find the last one and give it to you!" Emily said to Misao's father.

"And we'll be the most powerful people in the world!" Misao added.

Misao's father laughed, "What generous girls I have. It makes me happy to have two daughters again. Now, it's dark outside. Go to sleep, you got an early day of work tomorrow."

"Okay, Daddy." Both girls said, hugging him, hiding their bracelets in their bags, and falling asleep in their own beds.

-END FLASHBACK- - - - - -

Nami put her hand on her bracelet, "So you promised to give the bracelet to Misao's father?"

Emily sadly nodded, "It's okay, you can keep it."

"Why?" Nami asked.

At first, Emily didn't say anything, but answered Nami's question, "About four or five months after we made the promise, Misao's father was accused of killing a rich man in town. He claimed that he didn't do it and he really didn't, but since he was a slave and a witness, who was a drunkard, claimed he saw Misao's father do it.

"Without being given a trial, he was brought to the platform in town. All the other slaves and even a few townspeople stood around the platform. Misao and I were in the front row and stood right in front of the platform. We saw a rope getting towards him, and we knew what was going to happen. Misao's father pleaded innocence one last time, but it did no good. He made one final request as the rope was being tied around his neck. He said…he said…" Now Emily was starting to cry.

"What did he say?" Sanji asked.

Emily wiped away her tears and continued, "He said 'I know it is useless for me to be saved, but I beg of you, make sure that Emily and Misao don't see what's going to happen to me.' The master nodded and had two overseers cover mine and Misao's eyes. The platform dropped and he was hung. They kept his body handing hours after he died. Misao and I cried as we saw his body swinging in the wind."

"That's terrible." Nami gasped.

Emily shrugged, "But it happened. Misao's got the other bracelet. You can keep yours, Nami. It does belong to you after all."

Nami nodded and left the lounge with Sanji.

Emily opened up Lilie's diary to the last entry written when she lived in the Almani forest:

**_7th sun, 14th day of white daisies  
_**_**(Saturday, April 14)**_

**_I visited Kristina in her secret garden today and told her about my plan to leave with Ryou. I asked her if she could let us go through her garden to get to the entrance and avoid the guards. I didn't know if I should have asked her to help with letting me and Ryou escape. I mean, she was an eleven year old kid, just seven years younger than me, and doing this one little task could make her lose her title or life depending on how angry her father would be if he found out, but we were friends._**

_**Kristina hesitated for a moment, but nodded, "Okay, I'll do it. Dad made security a little tighter, but I know a way to get you passed the guards with a new tunnel I made. Come here to my garden at 11:30 with Ryou and don't tell ANYBODY about this. If Joshua finds out about the tunnels, he'll tell Dad and I will get the ultimate punishment." I promised her and told Ryou my plan. I'm taking him there tonight.**_

_**-Lilie**_

Emily was confused. Who was Kristina and why would it be her fault if Ryou, Lilie, and her tunnel were found out? And most importantly, what was her title? Did the Almani call her anything but "Kristina"? The questions stayed in her head long after Emily fell asleep.

- -

A/N: I tried to make a kinda humorous chapter, so I put Pop Rocks in this story even though there aren't any Pop Rocks in One Piece. Anderson is an actual town in northern California. My sister has been there a few times. I will add an attack from Pam in my next chapter. And I will explain who everybody from Lilie's diary later on, otherwise, you guys can just guess who the people are. R/R please and give me ideas if ya got them.


	11. You Can Learn to Do It

Ch.11: You Can Learn to Do It

Disclaimer- I don't own One Piece…yeah

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_1st sun, 22nd day of fiery cosmos  
__(Sunday, October 22)_

_Today, we saw a small boat coming towards us. Sitting on the deck was a girl holding a map in her hands. I don't think she was aware of how strong the waves were today because before she knew it, a large wave crashed against her boat and completely broke it. She was quick to grab onto a nearby board, but the waves kept roughly slapping her. She screamed for help and fell into the sea._

_Without being asked to, Sanji dived into the ocean and grabbed the drowning girl. Then Luffy stretched out his hand, grabbed Sanji's free hand, and pulled both Sanji and the girl onto the Going Merry. Nami wrapped a towel around Sanji. I gave a towel to the girl. Kneeling by her, we looked the same height, but she stood up and revealed herself to be an inch or so shorter than Nami._

_As soon as she finished coughing, she introduced herself and her best friend. I didn't understand what she meant by "best friend" because I only saw her. Then she opened her bag tied at her side and a small cat-like creature came out. Everyone on the ship introduced themselves, but the girl was the most fascinated with me. She told me that when we get to her hometown(a few weeks away), she'll tell me more about the Almani. I can't wait._

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Luffy and Usopp decided not to play anymore pranks on Emily. Every time they tried, Emily always got them back, so the played theirs on Zoro and Chopper.

By the afternoon, Emily had noticed a small boat floating in the sea with a girl with a confused look on her face and a map in her hands, sitting in the boat.

The waves had been very rough today, as Nami predicted, but the girl didn't seem to notice. The only time she truly noticed was when a large wave came up and slammed against her small boat, completely wrecking it. The girl was quick to grab on a nearby board, but her map fell into the sea and was lost forever. The girl noticed the ship nearby, so she screamed for help. She fell off the board and let out a final scream for help before going into the sea.

Sanji quickly dove into the water and grabbed the drowning girl. Luffy pulled both Sanji and the girl onto the ship. In an instant, Nami and Emily placed towels on Sanji and the drowning girl.

The girl was coughing uncontrollably and her wet brown hair covered her face, but she pushed it back with the towel when she finished coughing.

Emily looked down at the girl and knelt down next to her.

The girl had hazel eyes and looked about Emily's height…until she stood up. The girl looked about fifteen and was only an inch or so shorter than Nami. The girl smiled at the crew, "Thank you for saving me. My name is Uzumaki Nicole. And this is my best friend, Molly."

Emily was confused. All she saw was Nicole. But then Nicole opened the bag at her side and a small, cat-like creature hopped out.

"What were you doing on the sea with such a small boat and in this harsh weather?" Nami asked Nicole.

"Oh, I fell asleep in this boat in the backyard of my house and a flood came and carried my boat from my hometown. When I woke up, I was in the sea…and that was a 3 weeks ago. I don't even know where I am." Nicole answered. The rest of the crew introduced themselves.

"How did you survive three weeks on a boat?" Luffy asked.

"My grandpa filled my boat with snacks when I started sleeping in the boat. There was a lot left over." Nicole answered.

"Where are you from?" Nami asked, bringing out a map.

"My home is in Wenatchee." Nicole told her.

Nami pointed at the map at where the Going Merry was. They were only a few weeks from Wenatchee and the crew even volunteered to drop off Nicole and Molly.

Nicole talked a bit about herself and half surprised the crew when she revealed herself not to be fifteen, but thirteen. Her family in Wenatchee was full of lovers of legends and solving unsolved mysteries. Nicole was working solo on finding out what really happened to the Almani and even believed that at least one was still alive.

She didn't believe at first, that Emily was an Almani. The smaller girl was so…innocent and never used the powers that all normal Almani had, plus Emily told her that she didn't come from the forest like all the other Almani. Nicole knew, however, that there was one easy way to tell apart an Almani from a person. "Do you have a winged tattoo?" Nicole asked Emily.

"Winged tattoo?" Emily repeated.

"Yeah, a tattoo of a pair of angel wings." Nicole explained.

"The only tattoo I got is this one." Emily told her, partially lifting up her shirt to show her ribs.

Nicole's mouth gaped as she stared at the tattoo on Emily's ribs…a pair of angel wings: one wing blue, the other green. It was the tattoo of a normal Almani. "Oh my God! I knew that at least one was still alive. But how did you survive the attack?" Nicole gasped.

"My parents ran away from the forest five years before the attack and were murdered eight years later. The people that murdered my family failed to notice a sleeping baby in a cradle." Emily answered with a partial laugh at the idiocy of the murderers.

"Sooo…how long have you been flying?" Nicole asked.

Emily paused, "F-flying?"

Nicole stared at her, "Yes, flying. Every Almani can do it." Emily was silent. "You…don't know how to fly? How to get your angel wings?" Nicole asked again. Emily shook her head. "Well, what the hell have you been doing these past twelve years?" Nicole practically yelled.

Emily frowned, "You don't wanna know."

"Well, what about your other powers?" Nicole asked. Emily shrugged.

"Wow, she has powers?" Luffy cried out.

Nicole nodded, "All Almani do. the very first thing they're supposed to learn is how to fly." Luffy let out a smirk and looked at Emily.

Emily looked nervous and slowly backed away from Nicole and Luffy, "W-why are you looking at me like that?"

"Emily, it's time to teach you how to fly." Luffy told her.

"Wha? How are you going to do that?" Emily nervously asked.

"Like this…Gomu Gomu no hold." Luffy shouted, grabbing Emily and holding her over the wide and open sea.

"Wait! What are you doing? Put me down!" Emily screamed.

Luffy laughed and dropped the twelve year old.

"Imagine wings coming out of your back! Imagine flying!" Nicole called out. But it was too late. Before she finished, Emily fell into the sea.

Fortunately, Umiryuu was around and lifted her back onto the ship and she just jumped back on.

Emily shot an evil glare at Luffy, "I am going to kick your ass!" Luffy kept laughing and was joined by Nicole, Usopp, and Zoro. She looked so funny with her damp green hair all over the place and the glare made it even more hilarious. Eventually, the four stopped laughing and apologized.

"Why didn't you picture yourself flying?" Nicole asked Emily.

Emily frowned, "I've never had any experience in the sky, so how can I picture myself doing this?"

Nicole paused, "You're right."

"That's no problem!" Luffy shouted. Before anyone could say anything else, the captain wrapped one arm around Emily's waist and stretched his other hand to the top of the crow's nest. Within four seconds, both Luffy and Emily were in the nest…and Emily wasn't happy about that.

Her annoyance turned to fear when Luffy lifted her eight feet above his head and over the edge of the crow's nest. Her face paled as she looked at the crew members on the deck…so small.

Emily let out a scream, "Oh my God! What are you doing?"

"Prepare to fly." Luffy laughed.

"No! Don't drop me, please!" Emily screamed.

Chopper looked up to see what all the screaming was about, then started screaming himself, "Luffy! For the love of god, don't drop her! If you drop her, she's going to die when she hits the deck!"

Luffy shook his head and shouted, "No she won't. Zoro will catch her if her wings to come."

Emily looked down at his face and pleaded, "Please, don't." But it was too late. Luffy released her and watched her fall towards the deck.

Emily closed her eyes and screamed as she fell towards the deck. She was so scared that she barely felt the tingling feeling coming from her back. Then she stopped screaming. Forty-five seconds had passed and she just realized that she was no longer falling, but still she refused to open her eyes.

"Emily, are you okay?" Zoro called.

Emily didn't say anything, but slowly opened her eyes and let out a gasp. She was floating in the air. She turned her head and widened her eyes at what she saw.

Standing out of Emily's back was a pair of delicate angel wings. She flew herself around the ship and eventually found out how to get rid of them. Her wings disappeared and the look of shock was stuck on her face.

"Hey, you did it." Zoro told her.

Emily nodded and shot an evil glare at her captain, "If you EVER do that to me again, I will personally beat the crap out of you!" Luffy just laughed.

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"Hmmm…Jamie seems to have more power than Kayleigh." Pam said as she saw the pendant on the chest of a dark haired girl fill with power.

Jamie wasn't given a choice to give her power up or to die. Pam just stuck the pendant on her chest and sucked up her powers. Jamie was pale and weak after Pam removed the pendant.

Pam smirked at the weak girl, "Thanks for the magic."

Jamie glared at her, "Burn in Hell." Pam left the cell and locked it behind her.

Pam walked into her office and called onto Mark. "Where is the Almani brat?" Pam demanded.

"A few weeks southwest of the city of Wenatchee." Mark answered. The door opened up behind her, but she didn't notice. "Now, which of those idiot pirates will I possess?" Pam wondered out loud.

"Lady Pam!" A deep voice from behind her called.

Pam growled and turned around to see four figures: two male, two female.

"What do you four want?" Pam asked in annoyance.

A male the age of sixteen asked, "Can we capture the Almani brat?"

Pam thought for a moment, "Well…okay. It would make sense for one of us to capture her and you are some of the best fighters I got. Just let me get you something." Pam opened a drawer to her desk and pulled out four rings with a red jewel on top. With the use of some of her magical items, she divided Jamie's power equally in the four rings.

"Here, take these rings," Pam told her four servants, "If you need extra power, push the jewel and it will release the power into your body. Do whatever you want to the crew, but do NOT hurt the Almani brat. I need her unharmed to use her. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." The servants told her.

"Do you have transportation?" Pam asked. Her servants nodded, put on their rings, and left on their own rocket packs(i.e. those little backpacks that you put on to let you fly in the air).

Pam laughed evilly, "Soon, very soon, Little Almani. You will be mine."

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Emily and Nicole sat behind one of Nami's trees with one of Lilie's diaries. Each girl took turns reading an entry out loud and now it was Emily's turn. It was an entry from when Lilie lived in the Almani forest, before she used the secret garden to get passed the guards to escape. This entry, however, was about something else:

**_2nd sun, 23rd day of red larkspurs  
_**_**(Monday, July 23)**_

_**I met up with the two Almani princesses today in the market. They are now ten and four. The little one, which I call Genki(I hate using her real name and this nickname really fits her), was dragging her older sister(I call her "Shizuka" because she's so quiet) from stand to stand, picking up toy after toy figuring out which one she wanted. I talked to Shizuka for a while. She was upset…upset that when her father found out about her musical talent, he decided that the only use for it was to find the "Melody of the Seas".**_

_**I looked at her, confused, "What's the 'Melody of the Seas'?" "It's the annoying music the elders are always playing." Genki answered, holding up a wooden puppy. Shizuka sighed, "The Melody of the Seas is an ancient melody that allows the person playing it to bring anything in the sea to his or her own aide or can make a dozen sea creatures dance on the waves and makes the sea play the same melody. It's only a legend, but Almani have been trying for 500 years to find the melody and none have been successful."**_

_**I was surprised at how much Shizuka knew about the melody, but remembered that since she was a princess, Almani rules, legends, and history have been being crammed into her head since she was four. A guard came by and took both Shizuka and Genki back to the castle for music and penmanship lessons before Genki could even buy her toy. Poor girls. After hearing Shizuka talk about the "Melody of the Seas", I've decided to try and find it myself. I wish the two of us luck.**_

_**-Lilie**_

"Wow, I didn't know there was such a thing called the 'Melody of the Seas'." Nicole gasped.

Emily nodded. She didn't know either. "I'm going to find it. I'm going to find the 'Melody of the Seas' and use it to become the greatest flutist in the entire world." Emily announced.

Nicole laughed, "And when you do find it, I will be the greatest mystery solver of all time." Both girls giggled.

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Not too far away, Pam's servants: Shannon, John, Micheal, and Samantha, were flying towards the Going Merry. It didn't take long for them to spot the ship…or to land on it for that matter. Within seconds, the attacking started.

Nicole and Emily ran inside the ship to warn the crew inside of the attack.

Emily grabbed her boomerang and quickly put it together then ran up to the deck.

Pam's servants were putting up quite a good fight. Samantha and John were the weakest of the four and quickly succumbed to Sanji's kicks, Luffy's Devil Fruit powers, and Usopp's slingshot bullets. Emily, Robin, and Zoro took care of Shannon and Micheal. Zoro and Robin were busy fighting Shannon while little Emily fought Micheal. Emily was doing fine for a while, but then Micheal quickly grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up off the ground, ignoring her screams.

Zoro left Shannon for Micheal and held out his swords, "Let her go!" Micheal smirked.

"Zoro, help me! Please!" Emily cried out. Zoro started running towards Micheal.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you…unless, of course, you want to kill the girl." Micheal laughed.

Zoro paused at the sight of Micheal holding Emily in front of his own body like a shield. There was no way to attack Micheal without hurting or killing Emily in the process.

"Somebody, help me! Please!" Emily screamed.

Micheal laughed out loud and began floating in the air with the screaming Emily. He stopped for a moment and pulled out a little bomb from his pocket. He lit it, pushed the jewel down on his ring, and threw the bomb down at Zoro. Smoke came from the bomb before it hit Zoro and a loud noise came from inside the smoke.

Emily's eyes widened, "No! Zoro!" Her blue-green eyes glowed brightly while the rest of her body faintly glowed. She curled her both into a tight ball then quickly opened it, causing both her and Micheal to fall onto the deck.

Zoro stepped out of the smoke surrounded by a broken bomb without any scratches on his body. He dashed at Micheal with his three swords(Emily ran from Micheal, so she wouldn't get hurt) and began slicing.

Robin had finished with Shannon and ran to Zoro along with the rest of the crew. Now Micheal was the only one left alive, but he was severely bleeding.

Zoro held Micheal down, "Who sent you to capture Emily?"

"I'm not saying who." Micheal answered.

"Who sent you to capture Emily?" Zoro demanded.

"I'm not telling." Micheal answered.

"Who sent you to capture Emily?" Zoro asked a third time.

Micheal took a deep breath, "Pam did."

Emily stared into his eyes, "Wow. That was easy. Why did you tell us that?"

"I can't stand being asked the same questions three times in a row. It just irritates me." Micheal answered.

Zoro practically smirked, "Where is Pam hiding?"

"Kiss my white ass, Pirate!" Micheal muttered.

"Where is Pam hiding?"

"I'll never tell."

"Where is Pam hiding?"

"Damn. She's on her ship."

"Where is Pam's ship?"

"You'll never know."

"Do I really have to ask you two more times?"

"Kiss my ass!"

"Where is Pam's ship?"

"Up your ass and around the corner."

"Where is Pam's ship?"

"Yo Mama."

Emily pointed at him, "You have to answer. He asked you three times."

Micheal stood up, "No, that didn't count. He didn't ask me it three times in a row. His second question was 'Do I really have ask you two more times?', so it didn't count."

"Damn, he's right." Zoro mumbled.

Micheal laughed for a bit then fell to the ground. He wasn't moving and the crew knew that he, like his comrades, was dead.

"I wonder why Pam wants me so badly." Emily said out loud as she watched Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy dump Shannon, Samantha, John, and Micheal's bodies into the sea.

"You're an Almani, that's why." Nicole told her, "The Almani secrets can only be uncovered by a live Almani, which is you. All your other masters did that, too. They all wanted your power and now Pam will do anything to get it and will most likely do something to you after she gets the secrets."

Emily paled at what Nicole told her. She knew it was the truth and Pam would kill her easily. Then she looked at Molly. The cat looked so familiar to her and could be helpful if Emily right about what Molly was. "Hey, Nicole? What IS Molly exactly?" Emily asked.

"Molly is a Mailing Cat. She can deliver letters faster than other letter carriers." Nicole answered.

"Can she deliver something for me?" Emily asked.

"You have to ask her." Nicole told her, placing Molly in front of herself.

"Molly? Will you deliver something for me?" Emily asked.

Molly nodded. "Do you know where the city of Yokuna is?" Emily asked.

Molly nodded.

"Will you deliver a letter to Morimura Misao in the Morimura mansion?" Emily asked. Molly nodded. "Thank you." Emily told her. She ran to her room and took out her diary and a pen.

Emily quickly and carefully tore a blank page from the diary and wrote a quick note on it with her pen. She folded the paper once the ink dried and sealed it with a piece of tape from Nami's desk. On the back of the paper, she wrote the address of Misao and handed it to Molly. "Misao will give you something back, so please wait for a few minutes so she can give it to you." Emily told the cat.

Molly nodded and grew into a much much larger form of herself and moved the letter into her mouth.

Emily whispered to Molly, "This is a very important letter, so please deliver it as fast as you possibly can." Molly nodded a final time and floated up in the air and ran towards Yokuna…fast.

Zoro turned to Emily, "So…what did you write to Misao?"

Emily looked into the sea, "I asked her for something that will really help us. Hopefully she'll give it to us." Emily brought her bag from her home outside and sat behind the orange trees.

Zoro sat with her. He didn't know why, but he had a strong urge to protect her like an older sibling would do to a younger one even though he had no relation to her at all.

Emily reached into her bag and pulled out the picture from Ryou and Lilie's bedroom. She looked from Aron to Zoro and realized that if Zoro was shrunk down to the size of a seven-year-old, he'd look almost exactly like Aron. "You know what? You look like Aron." Emily told the man sitting next to her.

Zoro looked at the picture and saw what she'd meant, "You're right. I do…Sis."

Emily smiled at him. He'd been calling her "Sis" for already a week and already both of them felt calm about that, especially Emily, who was glad to finally have a brother again.

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"Where the Hell are my servants?" Pam screeched.

Bryce ran in breathless, "Lady Pam, we've just received word that Shannon, Samantha, John, and Micheal are dead."

"WHAT?" Pam screeched.

Bryce winced, "It's true. Their bodies were discovered floating by Seaside. We think the pirates killed them and protected the Almani girl."

Pam had a few thing fly around the room, but thanked Bryce anyway for his information.

Pam ran to Mark's orb and screamed for him to wake up. "Why didn't you tell me that my servants were going to die?" She screamed.

Mark frowned, "I told you that I do not see the future."

Pam grunted, "Fine. Where is the Almani girl headed to?"

Mark let out a sigh, "She and the Straw Hat Pirates are headed for the port town of Wenatchee, about three weeks away from their current location."

Pam smirked, "Excellent." She left the room and walked into her daughter's room. Both girls were trying on clothes they had stolen from a clothing store in the town of Kelso. The clothes they wore were the very tight ones and were way too small for them, which made them look disgusting. "Lyssa, Sabrina. We are headed for the town of Wenatchee and we are going to take the Almani away ourselves."

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A/N: Okay, that chapter is done. Seaside and Kelso are real towns. Seaside is in Oregon and I think Kelso is in Southern Washington. I got the argument between Micheal and Zoro from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me(if any of you had ever seen it). And Nicole is a real person(one of my best friends) and she picked her own last name, which is the last name of Naruto from the anime "Naruto". I will try to add more action in the next chapter. R/R. Oh, and here are some translations for some Japanese words I used:

Genki- energy, happy

Shizuka- quiet


	12. Kidnapped

Ch.12- Kidnapped

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, but Emily is and always will be mine even if for some reason, another writer or Eiichiro Oda decides to use her (but it isn't going to happen).

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_3rd sun, 5th day of brown chrysanthemums  
__(Tuesday, November 5)_

_I spent all day playing my flute, trying to find the "Melody of the Seas", but I haven't been able to find it…although, I am happy to say that I HAVE made up three new songs since I first heard about the melody from my mother's diary. The pirates don't seem annoyed with my constant flute playing because I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Nicole doesn't mind, either. She's just waiting for Molly to come back._

_Ever since Zoro had called me "Sis" nearly two weeks ago, I've been feeling a lot safer, like he'd protect me from anything…especially since I know that Pam wants to capture me to find the Almani secrets. I like it when he calls me "Sis", I really do. He acts like the older brother I don't remember. It's just like Aron is right here on the Going Merry with me…_

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"Aren't you out of breath yet, Emily?" Nicole asked the emerald haired girl playing her flute.

Emily shook her head and kept playing. Emily had played her flute almost non-stop for five hours, desperately trying to find the "Melody of the Seas", but never did. She tried making classical music, jigs, and even lullabies on her flute, but it never did any good. Although they had some effects on the crew: Sanji and Nami danced alone to the classical music; Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper danced to the jigs; Luffy even fell asleep to the lullabies.

It had been nearly two weeks and Molly had not returned from Yokuna. Both Nicole and Emily were starting to worry. Nicole was afraid that something had happened to Molly. Molly had delivered letters from her mother in Wenatchee to her aunt in Newport, which was just as far as Yokuna was, and came back within a week. Emily was more worried about Misao. She'd written Misao a letter requesting something very special to beat Pam with. Now all she could do was wait for a response.

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On November 1, Molly had made it to Yokuna. The weather was terrible on the way and really slowed her down. But Molly was a loyal and reliable Mailing Cat and got the letter to the Morimura mansion. Misao was surprised to get a letter from her younger sister. She thought she'd never hear from Emily again, now that she was wanted. Misao led Molly to the parlor and let the little cat take a nap on a cushion by the fire and read Emily's letter out loud to herself and Haru:

_**Dear Misao,**_

_**Over the past few months of traveling on the sea with the pirates, I have encountered some good and bad news. For the good news, I have finally learned a bit about my parents: two runaways from the Almani forest(wherever that is). I even had a brother, seven years older, who was murdered along with my parents. I am the last Almani left in the world. Just a few months ago, the man that last bought me as a slave freed me and sort of adopted me as his younger sister(he calls me "Sis").**_

_**Now, for the bad news: because I am the final living Almani, I'm the only one that can unlock the Almani secrets. This psycho woman named Pam wants that power and is doing all that she can to capture me to use me for the secrets, and I fear that she will kill me when she gets them. Now, I have a request for you: I need to borrow your Dark Diamond bracelet.**_

**_This may shock you a bit, but our navigator was given the last Dark Diamond bracelet two months ago and now on the Going Merry, we have two and you got the final one. I know I may ask a lot, but now I'm more scared than I ever have been. In my past people wanted me only for my power; in the present, Pam is sending her servants to capture me; and without the 3rd bracelet to trap her, the future is going to become Hell on Earth with my power and Pam will be unstoppable. _**

_**You don't have to give me your bracelet, but if you do, I promise that I WILL return it to you as soon as I can.**_

_**Your beloved little sister and pirate,  
**__**Emerald Emily**_

_**P.S. I hope you like the circus carts I gave you.**_

Misao stared at the letter in shock. The sister she had known the longest, the one that gave her the first chance to be free, was asking for one of the most precious thing that had ever belonged to her.

"Are you going to give the bracelet to Emily?" Haru asked Misao.

Misao hesitated, but thought about what Emily's letter had said, "Without the 3rd bracelet to trap her, the future will become Hell on Earth…" Emily had never lied to her sisters before, so Misao believed it. She nodded.

Both Haru and Misao walked to Mama and Papa's cart and took four things out of the desk: a little black bag, a piece of paper, a pen, and a little bottle of ink.

Misao slipped her Dark Diamond bracelet off her wrist and placed it in the bag. With the rest of the items, she wrote a letter to her pirate sister.

Molly woke up not too much longer after the letter was written and placed in the same bag as the bracelet. She had the bag placed in her mouth and she left.

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It was now November 6, and Molly had finally returned to the Going Merry from Yokuna. Emily quickly thanked Molly and removed the bag from her mouth. Molly leapt into Nicole's open arms and rubbed her face against Nicole's, purring loudly. Emily opened the bag and took out Misao's Dark Diamond bracelet and smiled.

"You asked her for her Dark Diamond bracelet?" Zoro asked her. Emily nodded and read Misao's letter out loud:

_**Dear Emily,**_

_**You know that ever since we were little, it has been difficult for us to lie to each other and I won't lie now. I was very disappointed when you asked me for my bracelet and upset when I found out that Pam was coming after you because you're an Almani. But I remembered that you were always giving me things and never asking for things in return. So I made up my decision and will give you my Dark Diamond bracelet.**_

_**But please send me the bracelet back to me when you're finished using it. It's the only thing I have that can make me smile when I think of my poor father that was killed nine years ago. Oh, and I should tell you this: I found out the truth of my father's death. The man that accused him of murder all those years ago finally confessed that he did it, not my father. He confessed while visiting Yokuna, at one of Mr. and Mrs. Morimura's parties.**_

**_The man felt so guilty that after nine years, he just told everyone. He said he didn't want to get caught, so he accused a slave from a nearby plantation and naturally, that slave was my father. The man who accused my father never knew he had a daughter until five years later. At the party he said that he'd give everything he owned to the missing daughter._**

_**I started to cry. I went up to the man and yelled at him, saying that he had no right to arrest an innocent man who happened to have a three-year-old daughter still alive and if he hadn't have killed my father, both you and me wouldn't have been in so much pain and had less beatings and slave trades. Needless to say, the man WAS arrested and he gave me the only thing that belonged to him: ten slaves.**_

_**I told Mr. and Mrs. Morimura that I wanted all slaves freed and let them live wherever they wished. Mr. and Mrs. Morimura agreed and helped me fill out papers to free the ten slaves I was given. Half left for different towns, but the others asked to work here at the mansion as servants so they could get their first paying job and can afford their own homes. Now the mansion has five new servants. I miss you so much, so please keep writing in your diary.**_

_**Your beloved older sister and artist,  
**__**Morimura Misao**_

_**P.S. Beat Pam twice as hard for me.**_

"Oh, Misao." Emily sighed. She turned around and handed Misao's bracelet to Zoro.

"What?" Zoro asked.

"I don't have enough power to use two of the bracelets at the same time, so I want you to have this one…until we have to return it to Misao." Emily explained.

Zoro nodded and put the bracelet on then looked at her again, "You said that she's your age, but older. How much older is Misao?"

"Oh, she's four days older than I am." Emily answered.

"Wow." Zoro said.

Nami smiled as if she looked up from the map in her hands, "Well, I have some good news. We should be in Wenatchee in a few hours."

Nicole jumped up with Molly in her arms, "Did you hear that, Molly? We're almost home. Soon we'll see Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, and Karen."

"Who's Karen?" Emily asked Nicole.

"Oh," Nicole answered, "She's my sister. She's a year younger than I am."

"Do you think your family will be able to help me learn more about the Almani?" Emily asked.

Nicole nodded, "Of course they will. You just wait!"

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The Marines had gotten to Wenatchee a few hours before the Straw Hat Pirates did. By now, all the physical injuries on Ryan had healed, but he felt bad inside about Emily: once a friend, now an enemy. But it didn't make much sense of why she attacked him so quickly. The Marines had tried over and over again to convince Ryan that it was all Emily's fault that he was injured so badly, but he had a feeling that they were wrong.

That feeling came from three figures that visited him as he recovered from his injuries: a man, a woman, and a little boy. None of the three were Marines, only came when Ryan was alone, and disappeared into thin air when one of the other Marines came. They were never seen all together, but the little boy was seen the most often…and the only one of the three that actually spoke.

The first time the figures came was just a day after Ryan awoke from his coma. Ryan opened his eyes and saw a little boy. The little boy was crying his eyes out and holding a red marker. "Who are you?" Ryan asked the crying boy. The little boy kept crying. "What's the matter?" Ryan asked.

The little boy didn't look at Ryan, but spoke through sobs, "My sister…why is everyone so mean to her? She didn't do anything wrong…"

Before Ryan could ask the little boy another question, the door to his room opened and the little boy vanished.

"Ryan? Are you okay?" Kim asked from the doorway.

"Yeah, we heard you talking." Kelly added form behind Kim.

"What happened to the little boy?" Ryan asked.

Kim and Kelly were confused, "What little boy?"

"There was a little boy with green hair in this room. He was crying." Ryan told his friends.

Even though they didn't believe him, it didn't stop the little boy from visiting. Every time he visited, he cried about his sister. He never said what his name was and always cried about how mean people were being to his sister.

Ryan talked to the other Marines about it, but they didn't believe him and suggested that he ignore the little boy and that the little boy would go away. That was a big mistake.

Ryan ignored the little boy and the boy began slamming drawers and shaking the bed. The crying got louder and almost turned to screaming. What's more, the second time Ryan ignored the little boy, the little boy went into a tantrum and threw Ryan's food at the other side of the room, books were hurled at the wall, the bowls with food were broken, and glass figurines were shattered.

The next day, a green haired woman came instead of the little boy. She was staring at the walls and disappeared. The day after that, a green haired man did the same thing the woman did.

The little boy returned two days later. He was crying loudly and drawing a picture on the wall with the markers from Ryan's desk. The picture on the wall looked exactly like Emily's cabin when it was aflame. Looking at both the little boy and the burning cabin, an idea of the little boy's identity came in his head as he thought of an earlier argument he had with Emily:

"_**This is my house. And now I want to know why you're in here."**_

"_**It is not your house!"**_

"_**This is so my house!"**_

"_**It is not! This place has been abandoned for twelve years!"**_

"_**I was born in this house and left when after my family died in it twelve years ago!"**_

"_**So, you lied to me. You aren't really twelve."**_

"_**Yes I am! I was a month old when my family died."**_

"_**Then, what is that paper in your left hand?"**_

"_**A map from my brother. My brother's name is Aron."**_

"_**Yeah, right."**_

"_**If you're going to keep on acting like this to me, then I want you to get out of my house!"**_

If Ryan's instincts were correct, which they usually were, this little boy was Emily's deceased brother, Aron. There was only one way to tell, "Aron?"

The little boy sniffed and turned his head. "A-are you m-mad at m-my s-sister?" Aron asked through sobs.

Ryan thought for a moment. If it wasn't for Emily, he would have been dead months ago on the uninhabited island when the rain came and knocked him and his friends down a hole and it most likely wasn't her fault that he was hurt, so he shook his head.

Aron was still crying, "Everybody was so mean to her. They beat her because she was special. She stood up for everyone else, but since she was a special slave, she got beaten even more. It's not fair!"

Ryan wanted to do something, anything, to help Aron stop crying. He tried patting Aron on the shoulder like he did to his little brother in Okuhaaba, but Ryan's hand went right through Aron. Aron then disappeared.

The man and woman came back a week later, frowning and shaking their heads at Aron's drawing. The man and woman closed their eyes and removed all of Aron's drawing from the wall. They then disappeared and didn't come back for a while. The last time Ryan had seen any of the figures was on the last week of his recovery. The man and woman were standing by a wall with Aron in his arms.

Aron was scared and spoke a final time, "A mean, old woman is trying to take away my sister. She wants to kill her. I know it. Please help my sister!"

Ryan nodded, "I will help Emily the best I can. Don't worry, I won't let any of my friends die."

For once, Aron stopped crying, "Thank you. I'm glad my sister has a good friend like you." Then he disappeared with the man and woman.

For the rest of the trip to Wenatchee, Ryan defended Emily like he promised Aron. When he got to Wenatchee, he insisted on looking for Emily.

"Are you crazy?" Kim shrieked.

"She almost killed you and you want to look for her?" Kelly asked.

Ryan nodded. The girls paused then said, "Then we'll come, too."

"Fine." Ryan answered.

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Nicole didn't waste a second getting off the Going Merry with Emily and Molly when the ship docked. Robin stayed on the ship while the rest of the crew followed Nicole to her house.

The house was average sized and sitting outside, on the deck, were two upset men, two somber women, and a frowning girl. All five of them smiled when they saw Nicole and embraced the girl.

When Nicole got free, she introduced the present Straw Hat Pirates to her parents, grandparents, and Karen. The five thanked the pirates for saving Nicole and bringing her home. They had searched around Wenatchee for two weeks and nearly assumed she ran away.

Nicole pulled Emily in front of her and announced to her family that she was the final living Almani in the world AND she wanted to learn the "Melody of the Seas". Only Nicole's grandparents seemed truly interested (Nicole explained earlier that her parents were busy finding out about the Uzumaki family history and Karen didn't care about the Almani).

Nicole's grandparents asked if Emily was part of royalty and Nicole said she wasn't.

Emily asked them if they knew anything about the "Melody of the Seas", but they didn't know anything other than Nicole's grandpa thinking that the eldest Almani princess was extremely close to finding it before she died. Emily also found out that the Almani forest was originally called "Almania". In Almania, an Almani's status was judged upon their powers, or what they could do, for instance:

Royalty: Controls all elements, has telekinesis, can shape shift, speak to animals and trees, boys have super strength, girls have super speed, and many more.

Nobles: Controls some elements, can speak to trees and most animals, can fly fast, can make anything built with their powers in just a mere few days or weeks, and a few more.

Average: Controls one element, maybe two, can speak to some animals, can fly sort of fast but has problems controlling the speed, makes really good art with powers in just a few hours, and some more.

Low: Controls no elements, can speak only to magical creatures(all Almani can speak to magical creatures) and other Almani, flies at average speed, and a few more.

The rest of the powers were secrets that only the Almani, especially royalty, knew, nobody else and Emily. Not even the fairies, nymphs, or the other magical creatures knew about them.

"Do you know anything else? Do you know where Almania is?" Emily asked.

Nicole's grandparents smiled and went into their house to get a map. The pirates and Nicole waited outside.

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Pam just walked out of a dungeon half filled with weak creatures. In her hands were three pendants. She walked to the main room and gave one pendant each to her daughters and kept one for herself. Pam, Lyssa, and Sabrina slipped on the rocket packs and floated up on the air. "And now, girls…to Wenatchee!" Pam called. Her daughters cheered and followed their mother to the city of Wenatchee.

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Pam, Lyssa, and Sabrina got to Wenatchee pretty quickly. By the time they landed on the ground, Nicole's grandparents were busy digging through chests, desks, and cupboards, trying to find the map to Almania.

"Hello, little Almani." Pam grinned at Emily, taking a step forward. Quickly, Emily pulled out her boomerang and put it together. Pam, Lyssa, and Sabrina kept walking towards Emily with their hands out and smirks on their faces.

"Get away from her!" Zoro yelled, standing in front of Emily.

"Yeah!" Luffy shouted, standing next to Zoro. Sanji and Chopper, now in human form, joined him.

"Haven't you ever heard the expression: **Fighting solves nothing**?" Pam asked peacefully. Nobody said anything. Pam's smirk got larger as she shouted, "Let's get 'em, girls!" In an instant, Pam, Lyssa, and Sabrina ran at the pirates.

"I'm getting dibs on the blonde and the red-head!" Sabrina shouted, dashing towards Sanji and Nami.

"Ugly Ugly face!" Sabrina shouted, pointing at the faces of Sanji and Nami. Instantly, their faces grew wrinkles and the skin changed color.

Nami screamed and Sanji yelled, "What the hell did you do to us?"

Sabrina smiled, "Oops, I forgot to tell you that I ate the Ugly Ugly Fruit. I can make anything become as ugly as I want."

Sanji tried getting closer to Sabrina, but the girl just made everything on him and Nami ugly. Every time that happened, both were too busy worrying about their looks that they failed to notice Sabrina taking some of the power from her pendant and punching both of them so hard that they fell unconscious. Then, she turned towards her younger sister in case she needed help.

Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper tried beating Lyssa, but every time they tossed something at her, she grew bigger and the layers of fat blocked the attacks.

"What the?" Luffy asked, seeing as her body received no scratches or bruises.

"I ate the Fastass Fatass Fruit. There is no way you'll defeat me!" Lyssa laughed. With some of the power in her pendant, she grew even bigger than before. She was so big that she looked like a giant just big enough to crush them with a foot. Instead of crushing them, though, she kicked Luffy so hard into Usopp and Chopper. They fell unconscious when they hit a wall.

Zoro was busy fighting Pam, who was throwing item after item at him. He was so busy with Pam that he failed to notice Lyssa and Sabrina sneaking up behind him, grabbing onto Emily.

Emily let out an ear piercing scream. The scream was so loud that Robin heard it from the Going Merry. Quickly, she put down the book she was reading and ran to Emily's aide, but Pam wasn't to be stopped.

With Pam's powers, she hurled large rocks at Robin and although she was able to dodge most of them, Robin was caught off guard when a huge rock half the size of her hit her in the back of the head, knocking her out.

Now, it was back to Zoro, who really was a challenge. She had no experience with sword-fighting so she used her powers to hurl swords that were outside for some reason, at Zoro.

Emily was having problems fighting off Lyssa and Sabrina. Lyssa had knocked off her boomerang and blocked off all the attacks aimed her herself and her sister. It all seemed hopeless for Emily…until she got help. Kim, Kelly, and Ryan ran in front of her, their swords in attack position.

"Y-you…" Emily stuttered.

"Get your boomerang!" Ryan demanded.

Emily obeyed him without thinking.

Nicole disappeared for a moment and came back holding a loaded pistol.

None of that stopped Lyssa and Sabrina. With the last of the stolen power, they broke the young Marine's swords and Nicole's pistol. They knocked Kim, Kelly, Ryan, and Nicole into each other and the stone walls in Wenatchee. They were not knocked unconscious, but the walls started to crumble and fell on top of the four of them and trapped them.

Pam noticed that Zoro was beginning to look exhausted, so she took the opportunity to throw a barrel of swords at him.

Zoro fell bleeding to the ground. He struggled to stand and protect Emily, but couldn't.

"Now, Almani. Time to come with me." Pam smiled. As quick as lightening, Pam scooped Emily up in her arms, "Now, Daughters. Let's go home."

"No! Let go of me!" Emily screamed, struggling to free herself. Pam wouldn't let go and started floating up in the air.

"Emily!" Zoro shouted, starting to stand.

"Zoro! Help!" Emily screamed from Pam.

Zoro's vision blurred and he started to lose consciousness, but called one final word, "Emily…" Then he was out and Emily was gone.

Zoro woke up hours later in a hospital bed covered in bandages. All of the Straw Hat Pirates were around his bed, all conscious and normal(the ugly effect on Nami and Sanji wore off when Sabrina left, so they looked normal). He was relieved for a second before he found out that one of the crew was missing.

"Oh my God! Are you all right? You almost bled to death!" Nicole screamed at Zoro from the doorway to the room.

Zoro looked around the room, "Where's Emily?"

The room grew silent until Nami spoke, "She's gone. Pam took her."

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A/N: And that's the end of that chapter. Sorry if I made everyone seem weak, but trust me in the next battle with Pam, Lyssa, and Sabrina, none of the pirates will be weak. Newport is another real town. It's in Oregon and it's actually pretty cool. My dad took me, my sister, and a few of her friends there for a trip and took us to "Ripley's Believe it or Not", which kicked ass. I based the thing with Ryan and Aron on a true ghost story that happened to a family in England that I read about in one of my books. I hope ya liked this chapter, so R/R if ya want, but don't flame me. I just go back to High Hell(High School) a few days ago, and I'm already upset enough about it.


	13. Depression and Luxuries

Ch.13: Depression and Luxuries

Disclaimer- I don't own One Piece, so don't even think about trying to sue me because you can't.

A/N: Okay, for the next few chapters, the chapters will NOT begin with Emily's entries. I will have the members of the Straw Hat Pirates write in it and I will say at the end of each entry who was writing.

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_Thursday, November 7_

_The ship left Wenatchee yesterday, as soon as Nicole's grandparents found the map to Almania. Emily's there. I know she is. Nicole is with us on the trip because she needed information on how to find out about the Almani and she could let us know about the powers Emily may be forced to learn. I feel so weak since I watched that evil woman take her away. Most of her things are still on the ship: her chest from the circus, four carved figurines, a couple pictures, a book of legends and flute music, her dad's diary, and her own diary(which I'm writing in now). All the rest is with Emily. I can't wait to find Pam and free Emily from her evil clutches._

_-Roronoa Zoro_

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The Straw Hat Pirates stayed in Wenatchee for only a day before going out again. In that day, the map to Almania was found in an old desk in the attic of Nicole's house. All the pirates were eager to leave the small town and begin their search.

Nicole had asked to come along, too. She needed to complete her research and she could fight with a gun.

Luffy agreed, Nicole's parents refused. They were afraid of something happening to their elder daughter, but after an hour of begging, they gave in. Her father gave her a new pistol, a shotgun, and a whole month supply of ammunition for both guns. Her mother gave her a few sets of clothes. Nicole walked to the Going Merry and left Wenatchee with the Straw Hat Pirates.

The Marines had also left for Almania that day. It was a request from Kim, Kelly, and Ryan after the other Marines freed the three of them from under the rocks after Pam, Lyssa, Sabrina, and Emily left. Kim, Kelly, and Ryan explained that Pam was going to use an innocent girl for power, then kill the girl, and destroy everything in the world. It was an all too common threat, so the Marines agreed. What they didn't know was that the innocent girl was actually Emily and they wanted to save her.

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Emily opened her eyes and looked around the room she was in. For days, she prayed that the room she woke up in was the room she shared with Nami and Robin, but it wasn't. This room was different. This room was large, had one bed, painted yellow walls, toys were at one side of the room, a desk at another, and a bookshelf full of books and a few snow globes and a music box. The room was nice, but it didn't have the calming orange smell that Nami's room did.

Everything in the room looked different from her actual room. The bed was large with fancy sheets, fluffy pillows, and thick covers. There was a door leading to a bathroom made for royalty which included a porcelain bathtub, a beautiful sink, and a closet of clean towels. Back in the bedroom was a large wardrobe full of clean clothes, mostly dresses, that didn't belong to her. Pam knocked her unconscious as she left Wenatchee and changed her clothes. Now Emily wore a silky green dress, which she absolutely hated.

She tried to escape from her room, but the door to the hallway was locked from the outside as was the window. Servants came in with food, leaving it on the table for Emily to eat, but she never even touched it. None of the toys were touched either. The servants tried making conversation with her, but she refused to speak to any of them no matter how nice they acted.

Pam came in one day to try and talk to Emily, but all Emily really said was, "I wanna go home." Pam put on the best smile she could and answered, "You will be soon." She put a spoon in Emily's hand and pointed at a nearby bowl of porridge. She said in her sweetest voice, "Now eat, dear. You need the energy." Emily refused. Pam tried again, "But sweetie, you must eat. Please?" Emily refused again.

Now Pam was mad, "I told you to eat!" Emily shook her head. Pam reached into a bag and pulled out a whip very similar to the Hellraiser. Emily stared in fear, but didn't eat. Pam unzipped the back of the dress on Emily and hit her with the whip, "Eat it!" Emily refused. Pam beat her six more times before Emily ate all the food. When Emily finished, Pam zipped Emily's dress and patted her head, "Good girl." She picked up the empty bowl and left the room, locking the door behind her.

Emily was now scared. It had been so long since she felt the pain of a whip and it scared her even more by thinking about it. "Somebody…help me, please." Emily cried, throwing herself onto the large bed. She reached into the blue bag she stuffed under her bed and pulled out a book, Aron's diary. She wiped her tears and started to read:

_**Tuesday, April 20  
**__**Sunny**_

**_Mommy and Daddy got really mad at me today. They took me and Emily into town for a while. They asked me to watch over Emily while they went into the grocery store for a minute. Mrs. Motormouth and her husband were in there and they started a LONG talk with Mommy and Daddy. I got bored, so I followed a group of kids to the_** **_thee-a-ter. All of us went onto the roof and the bigger kids told me to fly. _**

_**I didn't want to, but they wouldn't let me leave until I showed them that I could fly, so I asked them if they would hold Emily while I did it. They didn't want to. I flew in the air with Emily in my arms and she was laughing. Mommy and Daddy came out earlier than I thought they would and screamed when they saw me and Emily in the air. Daddy flew up and took both of us in his arms. When we got home, Mommy and Daddy yelled at me and sent me to a corner until they could think of a good punishment. Emily was put down for a nap, but she was still laughing.**_

**_-Aron_**

Emily giggled at the thought of her brother flying with her when she was just a baby, not even a month old. She wanted to learn more about Aron, so she turned the page to the last entry written in his childish handwriting:

_**Friday, April 23  
**__**Rainy**_

_**I spent all day carving a figure out of wood for Emily. Daddy said that I have the gift of an artist because I can make anything look magical. He says that I have more skill than anyone in town. I'm only half done with my figure, but when I finish, Daddy and I will paint my figure and it will be finished and join the rest of the family.**_

_**-Aron**_

"So that undone carving was supposed to be me?" Emily wondered out loud. She never thought that it would be her or that they figure was carved by her own seven-year-old brother. Tears filled her eyes. She had to stop reading. She was feeling homesick. She put Aron's diary back in the bag and threw it under the bed. Then she laid on the bed and cried herself to sleep.

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"115..116…117…" Zoro counted each pushup he did on the deck. He didn't mind doing the pushups, but he missed doing them when Emily was around. When she was around, he'd have her sit on his back, playing her flute. That way, both would be doing their jobs. The music being played, no matter what it was, seemed to motivate him into getting stronger. Now he had to motivate himself to get stronger.

The rest of the crew had felt like they had let Emily down by losing to the psycho woman and her daughters. They did all they could, but were still defeated by those three. Every day on the ship, aside from doing their jobs, they worried about their kidnapped crew mate. The usually high morale was now extremely low because she was gone.

The map to Almania from Nicole's grandpa was old, but extremely accurate. By the looks on the map, it would take three, maybe four, weeks of traveling just to get there, but nobody minded. As long as they were able to free Emily from Pam's evil clutches and destroy the woman and her terrible daughters, there was nothing to worry about. And they didn't want to waste a second.

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The Marines also had a map to Almania, but it wasn't quite as accurate was the one the pirates had. The pirates had the map that showed all the islands and cities on the way to Almania. It even showed where the ocean gets rough. The Marine's map only showed the island and only two rough spots, but nevertheless, it did show how to get to Almania.

Kim, Kelly, and Ryan still had not told the rest of the Marines that the innocent girl was Emily. They had to keep that little part a secret in order to help save her. As they traveled, the three of them decided to consider Emily their friend again and had also decided that it wasn't her fault that Ryan almost died. They had even planned on dropping the 40,000,000 berries on her head…if she was still alive when she was found. And thanks to their little lie, the Marines were sailing non-stop to Almania.

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**_4th sun 13th day of purple violets  
_**_**(Wednesday, February 13)**_

**_The upcoming queen died today. She's been sick for almost three weeks, so it didn't surprise most of us, but it was still upsetting. Most of the forest was hoping that she'd give birth to a son before she died, but now she left us with a grieving upcoming king and two daughters. Although I'm not afraid of having the elder rule after her father dies. She's more of a boy than her two boy cousins are. _**

**_Unfortunately, the town believes that she's too young to rule(she's nine, her sister's three), but there isn't any way she's going to rule anytime soon. Her father is the only one of the three princes that has the kindness, knowledge, and courage it takes to rule Almania and he won't die so quickly. I just wish the town could see that._**

**_Last week I saw the elder princess by the wishing well with tears in her eyes. I heard her praying for her mother to get well and for the townspeople to give her a chance. She's heard the townspeople talking about her as have I. The townspeople say that it was a prophecy that she was going to be a boy when she was going to be born and everyone was to celebrate. But the prediction was wrong and we were given a girl._**

**_I remember that day even though it happened when I was seven. The town was so excited, the smartest prince was going to have a son that would be able to rule after him(the present king was still choosing which of his three sons would be king and was looking at his youngest son). Mother and Father brought out barrels of wine and glasses to celebrate and all sorts of food was cooked._**

**_When the princess was born, a guard came from the castle. He looked disappointed as he announced that the baby was not a boy, but a girl. The town shouted in anger as they packed away all the wine and tossed all the food out into the deepest part of the forest. The priest went to see the little princess the next day along with other religious Almani. The priest claimed that the princess was a demon that would destroy the Almani and must be killed. Bother her father and the king refused to believe that she was a demon and kill her. _**

_**Now that the upcoming queen is dead, half the Almani blame the elder princess. They say that if she'd have followed God's needs and been a boy, Almania would be stronger and the queen would have lived. They call her the "Demonic Child", right to her face. But she never cries…not to their faces at least. I catch her crying when she's alone. I saw icy tears roll down her cheeks and I swear that I will never act like the horrible Almani did to anyone, especially someone as sweet as she is.**_

_**-Lilie**_

Emily looked up from Lilie' diary and wiped away a small tear. She suddenly felt like she was there in the entry of Lilie's diary, but all the figures were black for she didn't know how anybody looked. It also reminded her how she was always treated when she was a slave.

Like the princess in the entry, nobody wanted her, nobody could care less if she ran off into the woods and died. But then where would they be if they wanted to learn the Almani secrets?

The door opened and Emily shoved Lilie's diary under a pillow. She looked up and saw Lyssa and Sabrina standing in front of a now closed doorway.

"Are you bored already?" Lyssa asked.

Emily looked away, "I wanna go home."

"You're almost home. Just be happy here. I mean, look at all this luxuries room." Sabrina told her.

"I've seen nicer." Emily sighed.

"Well, I bet you haven't had so many nice toys before. I mean, I'd kill to have such nice toys that you have." Lyssa told her.

"If you like them so much, you can have them."

"Why don't you try on some of the clothes in your wardrobe?"

"I prefer to wear my own style of clothes, not the ones your mother picks out."

Lyssa and Sabrina were starting to lose their patience.

"What about the music box? I'm sure the songs are pretty and did you look at the snow globes?"

"I prefer my own music and I hate snow globes."

"Did you even read the books? They're filled with the favorites of Sabrina and I."

"You think I wanna read _Mary Trotter and the Sorceress' Rock_ or _Chicken Pot Pie for the Soul _or _Soles_?"

Now Lyssa and Sabrina were pissed.

"You ungrateful brat! You'll see what happens when Mother gets her hands on you!"

The two angry girls left the room, slamming the door behind them and locking it.

That's just what Emily wanted. She had to escape from this ship…wherever it was. She climbed to the window and peeked outside. The ship she was on was not on the ocean, but in the air. She knew the window was locked, but she knew how to fix that. What she really need to worry about was figuring out if any land was nearby.

A gust of cold air filled the room. Emily turned around and saw a child with her hair holding a pair of jeans and a green shirt, the clothes Emily wore when she was kidnapped. The child dropped the clothes on the bed and ran off giggling. Emily stared in shock as the child ran right through a wall. She shook off her shock and started changing clothes. She jumped when she saw a small key folded in her shirt. Emily brought the key to the small lock in the window and it fit, but she still needed to know where she was.

The cold gust came from behind her again, but this time, instead of being a child in the room, a man that looked like Zoro, but just a tiny bit paler, came in the room. "Z-zoro?" Emily gasped.

The man smiled, shook his head, and lifted up a sleeve, revealing his shoulder. On the man's right shoulder was a tattoo of angel wings in a fireball, just like the one on Emily's ribs. Then she knew who the man was, "A-aron?"

The man nodded and took out a blue marker from his pocket and watched him write and write until he was finally done. On the floor was a picture of a floating ship, a few islands, and a dotted line path leading to an "x" on an island just a few miles away.

"You want me to go there?" Emily asked, pointing at the "x".

Aron nodded then disappeared along with his drawing.

Emily placed Lilie's diary into the bag under the bed. She slipped the bag over her shoulder and unlocked the window. With a soft push, the window opened and Emily climbed out. Emily climbed up to the top of the ship and crawled to the front. She struggled to keep her balance as she walked to the front of the ship and had her wings come out.

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"What do you mean 'she's taking advantage of my hospitality'?" Pam screamed.

Lyssa and Sabrina winced. "It's true, Mother. She hasn't touched a thing in her room." Lyssa explained.

Pam grumbled, "Looks like I'll have to punish her again."

"Oh my God! Mother look!" Sabrina screamed, pointing out a window.

Pam's eyes and mouth widened at what she saw.

Emily had just jumped off the ship and started flying away.

"No! How did she escape?" Pam shrieked. Quickly, Pam opened up a window and started screaming at Emily, "What are you doing? Get back here!"

Emily kept flying. She wished she had more practice with flying because she saw Pam dash to the artillery room with Lyssa and Sabrina.

"Shoot her down!" Pam demanded to her daughters.

"But, Mother. I thought you didn't want us to hurt her." Sabrina told Pam.

Pam glared at her, "Right now I don't give a damn if she gets hurt or not. As long as I can get her back and she's alive. Now do what I say! Lyssa, get the giant net ready! Sabrina, shoot her down!"

"Yes, Mother!" Lyssa and Sabrina shouted.

Sabrina readied the cannons and aimed them at Emily's wings. She fired eight shots and just missed the flying girl.

The 9th had hit the left wing, but Emily was still flying. The 10th was the last one and it hit her right wing. Blood started flowing down the outside of her body, but she wouldn't give up. Not until she got to the island on Aron's map.

Emily flew until she was too far for any of the three in the flying ship to see her anymore. She also felt her wings getting weaker from blood loss. She saw an island with a barrier around it…and she was coming right for it. Her wings gave out and entered her body, making her fall right through the barrier and onto a forest floor.

Emily looked around at all that was around her: trees, abandoned homes, fairies, nymphs, sprites, animals, and even gravestones. The strangest thing was the hundreds of pink balls in the trees, much too big to be fruits or berries. She was now having problems breathing and knew she needed help. None of the animals or magical creatures would go anywhere near her or help her. She thought she was going to die…until she saw something that could help her.

A young girl, a few years older than Emily, was walking the opposite direction Emily was. "Hey! Wait!" Emily called to the girl, but she didn't stop. "Please wait!" Emily pleaded, getting onto her feet and ignoring the flowing blood. The girl didn't stop. She just kept walking. Emily followed the girl up to a large stone wall. For a few seconds, the girl stood in front of the wall before she moved her right hand up to five horizontal lines on the farthest right side of the wall.

The girl started to touch different lines and spaces quickly and music came. The music from the wall filled the air into the tune of an Irish jig. When the girl stopped, the stone wall opened. The girl calmly walked through the wall and played the tune on the other side. Now was Emily's last chance to talk to the girl. Emily ran as fast as she could through the wall before it closed.

The room she was now in looked like a garden. There was grass, trees, flowers, and even a creek. Emily put a hand on the girl's right arm.

Gasping, the girl turned around and stared in surprise at the bleeding girl, "You…"

Emily let out a few heavy coughs of blood, "H-help me…please…" Her strength gave up and she fell to the ground, eyes closed, barely conscious, unsure if she was even going to live.

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_Tuesday, November 12_

_It's been days since Emily was kidnapped, too many to us Straw Hat Pirates. All day, Zoro's been working on a half-done carving. I think he wants to finish it and give it to her as an apology of not protecting her from the kidnapping. I think everyone on the Going Merry wants to make up for not being able to stop Pam and her daughters when they kidnapped her. _

_Nicole has been a great help on this trip. She's told us all that she knows about Emily's people and even showed me some of the pictures she had of Almania. When we get to Almania, I can look over the old castle and help Nicole find out more about Emily's people. We are two weeks away from Almania. Too far away in my opinion, but we can't speed the ship up any faster. I hope Emily's okay when we get there._

_-Nico Robin_

Robin set Emily's diary down. The crew was still worried about Emily, so they each decided to write at least one entry for Emily to read once they rescued her…if she was still alive. Zoro had been working non-stop on Aron's half done figurine. He had a reason why and everyone knew what it was, but they didn't know how he got the idea for doing it. Of course, nobody asked him how. Zoro would have told them if they had asked. He'd tell them that he got the idea from a one-of-a-kind book:

_**Friday, April 23**_

**_Lilie and I have decided to forgive Aron for what he did in town three days ago. The fathers of the 5 children that made Aron fly in town came to visit before the rain came. The children admitted that they forced Aron fly and refused to hold Emily. I thanked the men for telling me this and they left. All day, Aron has been carving a wooden Almani girl, possibly Emily in a few years. He's only seven-years-old, but can carve better than anyone in Kupeviru._**

_**He's already half done with the girl and I promised him that when he finishes carving, I'll take him into town to get some paint and paint the girl. He seems really excited about it. He's already made figurines of Lilie, himself, and me and now he believes that with Emily's done, our family will be complete.**_

_**-Ryou**_

Zoro almost finished the carving part of the figurine, but he'd leave the painting job to Usopp. Usopp would do a better job because he had the most artistic talent on the ship. As Zoro carved, he looked all over the deck at the crew mates that were actually out. Usopp was making a new contraption that he refused to explain, Chopper was experimenting with medicines, Robin stared at Nicole's pictures and Emily's diary, Sanji stared mindlessly into the sea puffing on a cigarette, and Luffy sat on the bow searching for any nearby islands even though Nami assured him there were going to be any for at least two days.

Nobody was talking. Nobody even WANTED to talk. The entire crew had grew bored without their musician to cheer them up or to motivate them with her expert flute playing. Everybody wanted her back and they knew that the three Marines that attempted to protect her and even Nicole, who'd only known Emily for a few weeks, wanted her back, too.

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Emily opened her eyes a while later. She was still in the garden she collapsed in, the blood was gone, and she was feeling stronger. The only thing that wasn't around was the girl that opened the door to the garden.

"Oh, you're awake. Are you feeling better?" A familiar voice from the shadows asked. The person from the shadows walked up to Emily.

Emily's eyes widened at disbelief at who she saw, "No way!"

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A/N: Okay, I'm done. I made fun of a few actual books that I found laying around in me and my sister's rooms. _Mary Trotter and the Sorceress' Rock_ is making fun of _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_. _Chicken Pot Pie for the Soul_ is making fun of _Chicken Soup for the Soul_. _Soles_ is making fun of _Holes_. R/R if ya want, but I'm still getting over the pain of going back to school, so don't flame me.


	14. Emily and the One of a kind Spirit

Ch.14: Emily and the One-of-a-kind Spirit

Disclaimer- I don't own One Piece, but believe me, you'd know if I did.

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_Thursday, November 14_

_I made a pair of metal "wings" today and installed them on the back of the ship. With these "wings", the ship will sail twice as fast as it used to sail. We will be getting to Almania in half the time we would have been. I know I shouldn't say this because Zoro will most likely beat the crap out of me if he ever found out, but in a way I'm glad that Emily was captured. Her being kidnapped has led the crew on another big adventure. This is a bigger adventure than the psycho killer I defeated in the cave when I was seven._

_-Usopp_

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"I'm done!" Usopp announced, holding up a pair of metal wings.

Sanji raised an eyebrow, "What the hell are those things?"

"Wings," Usopp answered proudly, "Just like Emily's, but for the ship. Now we can go faster than we used to."

"Really?" Chopper asked anxiously.

Usopp nodded, "Yep! Another great invention by the great Captain Usopp."

"Weren't your last inventions first started by that dead guy from the traveling circus?" Luffy asked.

Usopp sweat dropped, "Oh yeah."

Zoro grunted from his spot on the ship, "If you're going to add the wings, then do it."

Usopp nodded and walked to the back of the Going Merry with Sanji and Chopper. The three of them installed the "wings" to the back of the ship before a large gust of wind came and gave the ship an extra strong push.

"Wow…" Chopper gasped.

"Amazing…" Sanji exclaimed.

Usopp grinned, "I know. I am."

Sanji stared at him, "Not you. The man who made them. He's amazing."

Usopp slumped, "Oh. Yeah, he is."

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Emily stared at the figure in disbelief, "N-nami?"

"No, I'm not Nami. I used my powers to see into your mind someone that was close to you…also Nami was the one that looks the most like me." The figure answered.

Emily frowned, "Well, please don't do that. Show me your real body."

"Okay." The figure answered.

Nami's red hair turned a little browner until it was auburn, the reddish eyes became blue, and the figure shrunk three inches.

"You're that girl I saw earlier." Emily gasped.

The girl nodded, "I'm surprised you were able to see me, Emily. Nobody has in a long time. But I saw your tattoo and knew how you could see me."

Emily paused, "How do you know my name?"

The girl smiled, "I read Lilie's diaries while you slept. It's been a long time since I saw her. How are Lilie and Ryou doing?"

Emily frowned, "My mother and father died twelve years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Where are we?"

"We are in my secret garden. Nobody knows about it but us and your parents."

"Secret garden? Are you…Kristina?"

"I am. I am Princess Kristina, but Lilie called me 'Shizuka'."

"You're Shizuka? Where's Genki?"

"'Genki' or Melissa is with all the other Almani that died in the attack."

"Where's that?"

"Did you see those big pink balls in the trees when you first came here?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's where their souls are."

"What about their bodies?"

"Uhhh…well…"

FLASHBACK

Two days after the attack, the door to the secret garden opened. A very weak Kristina walked to the forest and stared in shock at what she saw. All over the ground laid all the Almani killed in the attack…their bodies at least.

The fairies stared in disbelief at her, "Princess! You're still alive?"

Kristina weakly nodded. "Are there any Almani that are still alive?"

The fairies frowned and shook their heads. Kristina ran as quickly as she possibly could to the castle.

Kristina stopped and stared in shock at what she saw inside. Lying on the ground was her entire family, all dead. Dried blood soaked her little sister's golden hair, a sword was thrusted into the chest of her father and her favorite cousin's eyes and mouth were wide open in fear, dried blood surrounding his mouth. Her hand covered her mouth as she struggled not to vomit. "No…" She managed to get out.

Kristina ran outside and stared at the large pink balls in the trees. She stared into them in shock. Everyone in Almania was trapped in those bubbles…their souls at least. Their bodies were a different story. If they weren't properly buried and given a prayer, sorcerers would take their bodies and use them to make magic items. She knew, she saw it happen and she didn't like it.

With her powers, she dug hundreds of graves and lifted each and every Almani in their own graves and buried them. She used her own physical power to carve simple gravestones for each of them. She finally had to give the dead a prayer. She almost didn't want to say one for the priest that hated her and called her names and spoke mean things about her behind her back and sometimes to her face, but realized that he was an innocent Almani that was murdered with everyone else.

The green grass glowed when the prayer was over then stopped. Kristina smiled. She'd done what she was supposed to do. She let out a yawn and drug her body to her bed and collapsed on it. With a final sigh, she closed her eyes, and died. Nobody said a prayer over her body because there were no other Almani to bury her body and pray for it.

END FLASHBACK

"Wow…" Emily gasped, "That really happened?" Kristina nodded.

"Then why isn't your soul up in a bubble? Are you still alive?" Kristina shook her head, "I'm not alive. The souls were trapped there by the one that killed off my people. If only I was still alive, I'd rip out her heart with my bare hands!" Kristina slammed her right fist into the wall of her garden.

"Who killed off all the Almani?" Emily asked.

Kristina looked at her and answered, "Her name is Pam."

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_Monday, November 18_

_I've been so bored without Emily. I was so happy for a musician and was happy that it was HER. Without her music, nobody wants to do anything fun anymore. All everyone does is worry and Zoro barely talks anymore or sleeps. I hate that evil old granny and her ugly daughters for what they did. I want my musician back!_

_-Monkey D. Luffy_

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Luffy stared into the sea, a hand pushing his straw hat onto his rubbery head. The metal "wings" that Usopp had added to the Going Merry really sped up the ship, but it went so fast that anyone standing on the deck had to hold down any loose item on their body that the wind would be able to blow into the sea. None of the orange trees had been blown off, which was a huge relief for Nami. And, in a way, it was best if Emily WASN'T on the ship at the time. She was so light that she'd be carried off into the sea.

He was getting annoyed with the silence on the Going Merry. It seemed as if Emily had completely changed the morale of the ship. Sure, the crew acted like they normally did before they met Emily and after she joined the crew, but once she was kidnapped, everyone changed.

Zoro trained almost constantly after Emily was kidnapped and hardly slept even though Chopper had explained that it wasn't good for his health. Luffy felt sorry for Zoro and angry at Pam. She took away the thing he wanted since he first started out on the trip to be the pirate king and he was going to get it back.

Meanwhile, in the lounge, Nami, Nicole, Robin, and Sanji stood over the map to Almania.

"So, which town do you think she's in?" Nicole asked, obviously talking about Emily.

"Town? I thought she was in Almania." Nami asked, confused.

"She is. Almania is split into five separate towns." Nicole answered.

"Why is the city split into towns?" Sanji asked.

"Grandpa said that there was a bunch of fighting a long time ago when all the towns were just one." Nicole told him.

"What are the towns?" Robin asked.

It took Nicole a moment to remember, but she did, "The Northwest town is called 'Ruby Town', where the dragons and some of the average status Almani lived. The Northeast town is called 'Emerald Town', where the Royalty and nobles lived along with some sprites and elves. The Southwest town is called 'Sapphire Town', where the rest of the average status and the low status Almani lived. The Southeast town is called 'Opal Town', where all the other magical creatures live. The 'Golden Town' is right in the middle, and that's where all the markets and shops are. So where do you think Emily could be?"

The crew members inside of the ship thought for a moment.

"How about the Emerald Town? Children, especially girls, love to live amongst Royalty and Pam might force her to read and cast ancient spells in the castle if there are any." Robin suggested.

Nami nodded and followed the route with her pointer finger, "At this rate, we'll be there in three days."

"That's good. Then when we rescue Emily, everybody can take a long rest." Sanji exclaimed.

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CRASH! BANG! CRASH! SMASH! Those sounds had been going on constantly for eight hours. In the hours that Emily had been gone from Pam's ship, Pam went into an angry rage. With her powers, she made things explode and crash into the walls. Lyssa, Sabrina, Bryce, and a few other servants tried to calm her down and they were successful…after eight hours and plenty of scratches and bruises from hurling the items. Actually, it was Sabrina who calmed Pam down, convincing her that she was headed for Almania and only they could break the barrier.

Pam laughed out loud, patting her elder daughter's head, praising her for thinking like she wanted her to. Pam ran into her room, calling for Mark.

Mark's face appeared even though it didn't want to, prepared to take any command that she threw at him.

"I want to see her! I want you to show me where that little brat is!" Pam demanded.

Mark let out a deep sigh and had the picture of Emily, who was talking…to herself. Pam couldn't even see Kristina.

"Looks like she's in Emerald Town. Bryce!" Pam shrieked.

In an instant, Bryce ran in, "Yes, Lady Pam?"

"Set the destination for Emerald Town in Almania." Pam commanded. Bryce nodded and left. Pam looked out her window, "I'm going to find that little brat and kill her slowly and painfully when I'm done with her."

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"Hey, Kristina? Are you an Almani Princess?" Emily asked Kristina.

Kristina smiled and lifted up her right arm. Tattooed on the upper part of the arm was a pair of green and blue angel wings in a fireball like Emily's pendant.

"This answer your question?" Kristina asked.

"But why are your wings in a fireball?" Emily asked.

Kristina's smile got larger, "It shows that I'm a part of Royalty."

Some unexpected tears began to fall down Emily's cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Kristina asked.

"I miss the rest of the pirates. They were one of the few that would treat me like a regular person." Emily cried.

"I know how that feels." Kristina said frowning.

Emily stared at her, "No, you don't. Nobody understands what it means to be lonely and hated like me."

Kristina grabbed Emily's shoulders, "Don't you ever tell me that I don't understand what it means to be lonely and hated. Ever since I was born, half of Almania hated me because I wasn't a boy, especially the extremely religious people. They wanted me dead for interfering with the prophecy. And you're the first thing that I've been able to communicate with in 15 years. Tell me that's not being lonely and hated."

Emily looked at the ground, "I guess you had a life similar to mine."

"Damn right!" Kristina almost yelled.

Emily looked at her, "I've got another question for you."

"Okay, what?"

"Are you really a ghost?"

"Yeah."

"Then how come I could feel your arms on my shoulders?"

"Because I'm a one-of-a-kind ghost. Any Almani that can see one of me can touch it, talk to it, and feel it touching it. But you have to believe that I am there."

"What about the fairies, nymphs, and all the others?"

Kristina shook her head.

"Nobody or nothing has talked to me in 15 years."

"When you were alive, didn't anybody like you for not being a boy?"

"Well, most of the city was disappointed at first, but most forgot about it. Only the priests and mega religious people hated me. Only a single priestess didn't blame me for being a girl."

"Wow. How old were you when you died?"

"Sixteen. Two years later and I would have ruled half of Almania."

"Who rules now?"

"His name is Brian, the king of the fairies. He was even one of my father's best friends. I heard him say that he'd rule Almania until my father's soul is freed from the bubbles."

Emily tilted her head, "Then why don't you just pop them?"

"Because I need a spell to be cast upon them to free the souls. If I use a sharp object, the souls will disappear and go to the Spirit Realm, where they will be trapped for eternity, unable to be saved. So I need you."

"Why me?"

"You are the last of the Almani alive and only a live one can cast spells and let them work. You going to help me?"

"I…"

"Good. We start now."

Emily stared in disbelief at the spirit in front of her. Sure she felt sorry for Kristina being lonely for 15 years, but she didn't want to learn any more spells. All she wanted to do was go back with the pirates and play her flute for them and just forget that she was an Almani. But Kristina wasn't giving her a choice but to learn more spells to save the already dead Almani. And she wasn't going to let Emily go any time soon.

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A picture in a glass ball showed the Going Merry sailing rather quickly towards Almania.

"How are they going so damn fast?" Pam shouted. The picture now showed the metal wings on the back of the ship. "Dammit! How the Hell did they get those?" Pam screamed. The picture disappeared and Mark told her everything about them.

She was pissed, so pissed that she made the entire ship shake from her screaming. She almost didn't hear Bryce telling her that they were docked in front of Almania, in between Emerald Town and Opal Town. Pam knew about the barrier she created 15 years ago, after the attack and knew that only a live Almani could pass through it without Pam having to say the dispel, so the pirates were definitely not there.

She walked to the front of the barrier, closed her eyes, and chanted the dispel. A flash of light filled the sky and the barrier disappeared. She then walked into the forest with Lyssa, Sabrina, Bryce, and three other servants. Two others stayed on the ship. Once inside, she commanded that everyone split up and search a town. Pam and Sabrina searched Emerald Town, Lyssa and Desiree(a servant) searched Ruby Town, Bryce searched Sapphire Town, Doug(a servant) searched Opal Town, and Lexi(a servant) searched Golden Town. All were hoping to find Emily.

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"Come on! Come on! Shoot like you mean it!" Kristina shouted to an exhausted Emily.

"I can't do anymore." Emily panted.

"Yes, you can. Now do it!" Kristina shouted.

Emily took a deep breath, let out a scream, and a huge ball of lightening mixed with water came out of her hand and hit a wall of the garden.

Kristina smirked, "Good job. You can control your electricity and water elements."

Emily kept panting, "Can I stop now?" Kristina nodded.

Emily let out a sigh of relief and fell to the ground on her knees, breathing heavily. After catching her breath, Emily asked a question she'd been wanting to ask for a while, "How did Pam attack Almania?"

Kristina shrugged, "I don't know. Probably with one of those magic items she has. She's one of those sick freaks that collects magic items made from the bodies or souls of magical races."

"She…what?" Emily asked, her face paling.

"Collects magic items made from the bodies or souls of magical races." Kristina repeated, then muttered, "That damn sick bitch."

"I…have a feeling that Zoro and the others are on the way here. Is there any way I can get out of here?" Emily asked with hope in her voice.

Kristina heard a familiar and completely unwanted voice from behind the wall. She nodded sadly, "Yes, but I won't let you go now. Just wait a bit."

Emily grumbled, but agreed. She, yet again, didn't have any choice but to listen to what Kristina said.

"Good. And while we're waiting…let's train some more." Kristina suggested.

Emily let out a moan. This was just like when she was a slave except instead of being beaten with a whip, she was given spells. "Yes, Princess Kristina." Emily said, forcing a smile.

Kristina frowned, "Don't call me that. I hated being called that when I was alive and I hate it now that I'm dead. Call me 'Kristina'."

Emily nodded. "Now we'll, by which I mean you, will be learning how to cast a spell that can let whomever casted upon it to see any spirits of the deceased that are around…like me, for example." Kristina announced, "Now, repeat after me…stirips tel em ees."

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Pam shoved some tree branches out of the way as she walked through Emerald Town. She'd been searching for hours for Emily and had absolutely no luck at all, not even a little drop of blood from when she got attacked. There were no fairies, nymphs, sprites, or anything else in sight. They were all afraid of her ever since they saw what she did 15 years ago.

They even saw her kidnapping some of their kinds. Every single one was afraid of her, her daughters, and her servants. They all hid, praying that she wouldn't take any more of them.

"Dammit! Where the hell is she?" Pam screamed.

"She's probably not here, Mother." Sabrina told her psycho mother, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Besides, the sun is rising and there's no way she can go anywhere."

Pam looked at Sabrina, "You're right. I always knew you were the useful one. Let's go back." Sabrina smiled and followed Pam back to their ship. The creatures hiding sighed in relief and stepped out into the open the second both Pam and Sabrina left.

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"Is it okay for me to go outside now?" Emily impatiently asked.

Kristina put her ear against the door. Hearing nothing, she nodded and led Emily to the door. She moved her right hand to the lines by the door and played the same tune she did on the other side. The door opened. "You have to play this song on the lines at the right speed or the door won't open." Kristina told her.

"What do you do to close the door?" Emily asked.

Kristina played two low notes and the door closed.

"Oh." Emily mumbled. She stepped up to the lines and played the tune Kristina played to open the door. The door opened again.

"I'll take you over to Brian." Kristina said, stepping out of her garden, "But be aware that none of the creatures will be able to see me." Emily nodded, stepped outside, and closed the door.

It only took three minutes to find Brian, the king of the fairies. He didn't look very much like Emily thought he'd look like. She thought he'd be dressed in green clothes, muscular, and small. He looked only partially muscular, his clothes were loose, multicolored clothes, and he was her size. "Welcome, daughter of Ryou and Lilie." Brian bowed to her.

The first thing that came out of her mouth was, "Are you really a fairy?"

Brian grumbled and nodded his head, "Yes, I am." Brian's face showed annoyance when the question about him being a fairy was asked, so Emily got off the subject, "How do you know my parents names?"

Brian smiled, "I can see anything about you. I'm kinda like Santa Clause, but without old looks and present giving."

Emily was confused, "Who's Santa Clause?"

Brian sweat dropped, "…never mind. Basically, I saw what you've been doing your entire life."

"How?" Emily asked.

"That's a secret." Brian smiled.

Kristina leaned over and whispered into Emily's ear, "He had some spies put a magic thing in your hair ribbon the day you were born."

"Oh." Emily nodded.

"We've been waiting for you for years, Emily." Brian said, placing a hand on her head.

"Why me?" Emily asked.

"You have to destroy Pam." Brian said.

Emily widened her eyes, "M-me? Alone?"

Brian laughed, "Of course not. You think battles and wars are won alone? The Almani didn't think so and neither do I."

Emily smiled, "Good…but give me a few more days until my allies show up."

THREE DAYS LATER

Another few days had been spent mostly in silence and staring off into the sea. Zoro spent the entire day before sharpening his three swords on a stone he bought in a city months earlier. Now all three of them were sharp enough to slice the Going Merry into little pieces.

Usopp had been looking around the sea with a telescope, when a large patch of land came into view. "Land!" He screamed, rushing down from the crow's nest.

Nami ripped the telescope from his hands and looked through it. She smiled, "We're almost there…Nicole, how do we tell the difference between the towns?"

"The colors," Nicole told her, "Emerald Town is practically all green, Ruby Town is mostly red rocks, Sapphire Town has blue trees and lakes, Opal Town is full of naked trees that are white and have orange in them, and Gold Town is yellow." She looked through the telescope, "That's Emerald Town. That's probably where Emily is. Zoro looked at the upcoming island, "Hold on, Emily. We're coming."

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A/N: Sorry if it took me a while to update this chapter. I just got back to school and I've been mega busy with piles of math homework. I'll give the Straw Hat Pirates better parts in the next chapter. I promise. R/R if ya want, but please don't tell me if I mistook someone's hair/eye color or don't flame me.


	15. Into the Castle

Ch.15: Into the Castle

Disclaimer- Dammit, I don't own One Piece

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_Thursday, November 21_

_We got Emily back. When we saw her, she was sitting on a rock, talking to herself. When she finally noticed us, she practically ran into Zoro's arms. When she freed herself, she chanted some weird words and a golden glow surrounded the rest of us Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole and disappeared. We tried to take down a few berries in a tree when an invisible force stopped us._

_We tried dragging Emily back to the ship so we could leave, but she refused. We tried convincing her about Pam being on the island and getting her far away, but she still refused. Something's wrong with her. I know there is and I'm going to find out what._

_-Tony Tony Chopper_

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The Going Merry docked into Almania, by Emerald Town and away from Pam's ship. The very second it was anchored, the entire crew and Nicole ran into the forest, searching for Emily. They were surprised when they saw her just standing out into the open, talking to herself, but it didn't take all that long for her to notice that they were standing only a few feet away from her.

"Zoro!" Emily screamed, immediately running over to Zoro, throwing her arms around his waist. Smiling, Zoro hugged her back. "You came." Emily cried.

"Of course we did. You're our musician and we pirates won't tolerate any person from our crew to be kidnapped without a rescuing." Zoro told her.

Emily let out a giggle and stepped back.

With her eyes closed, she whispered the chant, "Stirips tel em ees."

A golden light surrounded the Straw Hat Pirates then disappeared. None of the crew could see Kristina, mostly because they didn't believe she was around, but after a few seconds they shook off the thought.

Nami looked around with a smile, "Wow, this place is beautiful."

Nicole nodded. Emily was going to explain about her promise when she heard a voice yelling, "Gomu Gomu no grab!" and saw big rubber arms heading for the bubbles with the dead Almani souls that were unsprayed for. "Luffy! Stop!" Emily screamed, but it was too late. An angry Kristina rammed her head into Luffy's side.

Luffy jumped back in surprise, "What the hell?"

"Don't touch those bubbles!" Emily yelled.

Luffy let out a sigh, "Okay, okay. We should go now before Pam gets here."

"No! I won't go!" Emily yelled. The rest of the group paused.

"Emily?" Sanji asked.

"I'm not going!" Emily told him.

Zoro grabbed her hand and started dragging her back to the Going Merry, but it did no good. Emily just wouldn't budge. "Emily, come on. Pam is going to come after you. We have to go NOW!" Zoro told her.

Emily shook her head, "I can't. I promised Kristina that I'd help her."

"Who's Kristina?" Robin asked her.

"She's the ghost of an Almani. She rammed her head into Luffy's side just a minute ago. She's even standing next to him right now." Emily explained, pointing at Kristina. The crew couldn't see her…until she pinned Usopp to the ground and jammed her knee into his back.

"Ow! Oh God, it hurts!" Usopp screamed. He looked back and saw a small auburn haired girl with her knee in his back. The entire crew could see her now.

"Kristina, get off of him." Emily commanded.

Kristina smirked, "You can't tell me what to do. I'm a princess."

Emily smirked back, "Yeah, but you're dead and can't use the special Almani powers."

Kristina frowned, "Touché." She hopped off his back with a smile.

"You're a ghost?" Chopper asked.

Kristina nodded. Luffy didn't believe her, "Prove it."

Kristina stared at him, "Okay, hit me."

With his rubber arms, he hurled his fists at her head…and they went right through. He cried out in surprise and pulled back his rubbery arm.

Kristina smirked, "Believe me now?" The Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole nodded.

"What did you make her promise?" Zoro asked angrily.

"I didn't make her promise anything. I ASKED her to help save the souls of my people and she said she would." Kristina answered.

Zoro looked at Emily and she nodded.

"The souls are in those pink bubbles." Emily told him, pointing at the bubbles in the trees, "And the only way to save the souls inside is to kill Pam and her daughters."

Zoro clenched his fists, "Dammit."

Kristina stuck out her hand, "Well, since you'll be here for a while, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Kristina, the older of the two last princesses of Almania. And I am and always will be sixteen-years-old." Zoro stared at her hand. "What's the matter with you?" She asked in annoyance. Zoro still didn't even try to touch her hand.

"Oh, for God's sake. I'm not contagious. I haven't been in fifteen years." Kristina sighed.

Zoro finally reached forward and grabbed her hand and shook it, "How the Hell is this happening? Just a few minutes ago, Luffy's fist went right through your head."

Kristina grinned, "I'm a special ghost. I can make my body transparent or solid whenever I want."

"God, you're a freak." Zoro told her.

Kristina ignored him and turned to Luffy, "Don't even think about touching those bubbles."

Luffy sweat dropped, "Okay, okay. I won't."

Kristina smiled, "Good. We, or I should say you, aren't safe out here. That psycho woman and her servants come by often. I'll take you somewhere safer." She led the group to her garden and opened the door. When she closed it, she turned to the group, "Now, I wanna know who you all are."

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"Are we almost to Almania?" Ryan asked impatiently.

Tashigi let out a sigh. He'd been asking that same question repeatedly ever since the Marines left Wenatchee. "We'll be there tomorrow, Ryan. Now go practice your swordsmanship or something." Tashigi told him.

"Yes ma'am." Ryan told her. He left the room for his own, picked up his sword, and met up with Kim and Kelly on the deck of the Marine ship. Both girls were whispering and giggling, but stopped when Ryan came up.

"Hey, Ryan! What did she say?" Kim asked, smiling.

Ryan sighed, "We'll be there tomorrow."

"That's great! But how are we going to get inside?" Kelly asked her friend.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

Kelly stared at him, "Ryan, the place has been blocked for fifteen years. How are we going to get in?"

Ryan laughed, "Oh come on, Kelly. Pam had to have taken off the barrier if she brought Emily inside Almania."

Kim nodded, "He's got a point, Kelly. The barrier has to be taken off if you want to enter Almania."

Kelly shrugged, "Yeah, you guys are right."

Ryan held up his sword, "Alright you two! Come on! I challenge you two to a duel! Come on! I'll take both of you at the same time!"

"You're on!" Kim and Kelly shouted. They went to their room, grabbed their swords, and ran to Ryan to start their duel.

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"Hey, are any of these plants edible?" Luffy asked, pointing at all the flowers in Kristina's garden.

Kristina shook her head, "No, but I wouldn't let you eat them if they were. I've kept these babies alive for fifteen years and I'm not going to let them die by a pirate." By now, all the Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole had introduced themselves. Kristina explained any question they asked her the best she could to all of them.

"That's nice. Hey, do you know where Pam may be hiding?" Sanji asked the spirit.

Kristina shook her head, "Nope. She usually moves to different parts of Almania whenever she comes here."

Zoro grunted, "Well, what good are you if you can't tell us where she's hiding?"

Kristina glared at him. She was really starting to get pissed with him. "Hey, I brought you here so you will be hidden from Pam. If it wasn't for me, Pam probably would have caught you AND Emily would have been dead." She exploded.

Zoro didn't answer her.

"Is there any way to find out where she is?" Robin asked.

Kristina shrugged, "You could ask the fairies or the nymphs. They'd probably know, but they only come out at sunset or during the night."

"Why's that?" Nami asked.

"Pam comes around during the day to capture the creatures and make magic items out of them, so they hide." Emily told her, shuddering at the thought of Pam doing that.

Nobody said anything. They didn't know WHAT to say.

Nicole finally decided to break the silence, "Can you take us to the castle?"

Kristina looked surprised, "Why?"

"Well…umm…I just wanna look around it." Nicole slowly told her.

Kristina nodded, "Okay. The forest seems pretty quiet, so I doubt Pam is out and will catch you. Follow me." She opened the door to the garden and led all the pirates and Nicole towards the castle.

Most of them stared in awe at the large castle standing in front of them. It was huge, about the size of Vivi's castle in Alabasta. Vines were growing down the sides of the castle.

"Wow, this castle really hasn't been touched in fifteen years." Usopp said out loud, pointing at the vines.

"Oh, the castle has always looked like this. For about 500 years." Kristina answered. She finally stopped in front of the door leading to the inside of the castle.

"So, is there a code to open the door?" Emily asked.

Kristina shook her head, put her hand on the doorknobs, turned them, and opened the doors. Inside was dusty just like Emily's house had been before it was burned to the ground. Doors were on the walls leading to different rooms, tables with items and chairs were neatly placed everywhere, and staircases lead to both upper and lower floors.

"Whoa…" Luffy gasped. The room they stood in was bigger than the whole Going Merry.

"Is there any specific room you guys wanna see?" Kristina asked, turning to the group. Everybody put their hands under their chins and thought deeply. After a minute, Nami requested to see the royal chambers.

"Okay." Kristina told her, "We can go there the quick way or the slow way. Which do you want to do?"

"The quick way." Nami answered.

Kristina led the group to a room down a hallway. She quietly opened a door and stepped through the empty space. The group followed her into the small room she now stood in.

"This is the royal chambers?" Luffy asked cluelessly.

Kristina stared at him, "No, this is an elevator. My grandfather had this installed when my father and uncles were little boys. To go up, you turn this little handle counter-clockwise and to go down, you turn it clockwise." Kristina pointed at a little handle on a wall.

She put a hand on the handle and turned it twice counter-clockwise. Nothing happened. Kristina sweat dropped, "Of course, it did break down a lot. But don't worry. I can fix it."

"How?" Chopper asked her. Kristina smiled and kicked the wall just under the handle. The elevator doors closed and raised everyone up two floors.

"What the Hell?" Sanji asked her.

"It used to break down a lot when me and my sister were inside, so we would kick the wall and it'd start up again." Kristina answered.

The elevator doors opened and everyone inside stepped out.

"Go into any room you want. The rooms that are my father's, my sister's, and mine are at the end of the hallway. The other rooms belong to my uncles, aunts, cousins, and the advisors. Be respectful." Kristina warned them. Everybody nodded and entered different rooms in the hallway.

Luffy and Chopper went to a room with a medium-sized, comfortable looking bed covered with red sheets and stuffed animals. The shelves in the room were covered with toys and books.

Chopper looked at the books and read some of the titles out loud, "Hmmm…_Crebbin's Book on Royalty_…_Strohschein's Encyclopedia on Almani History: Volume_ _1_…_Controlling Your Powers_…"

The rest of the room was filled with piles of dust on account of the room being abandoned for fifteen years, but it was pretty obvious that they room they were standing in was a girl's room…they just weren't sure whose room it was.

"You're standing in my little sister's room." Kristina told them from the doorway. She slowly stepped into the room, "She was only ten-years-old when Pam attacked the forest and killed her."

Luffy and Chopper took deep breaths and closed their eyes. When they reopened them, Kristina was gone.

The King's bedroom was being invaded by Robin, who was hoping to find something that could help her. Nicole was with her, too. She picked up book after book, scanned them, and placed them back carefully on the shelves.

Nicole didn't even spend much time IN the room. After seven minutes of scanning the books, she left to go searching the other rooms on the second floor.

Robin spent more time in the room, looking for things of at least a little bit of importance. The vases, bed, and pictures were useless. All they were were just simple items that showed nothing of the history of the Almani…or about Kristina. She was about to leave the room when she noticed a folded piece of paper on the ground.

Robin knelt down and picked up the paper and stared at it with a confused look on her face, "This must have fallen out of one of the books Nicole was looking through." She opened the paper and silently read the faded, but readable words written on it:

_**To His Majesty, King Glen**_

_**May 8**_

_**Your Majesty,**_

_**I am thrilled to know that you have accepted my request for the arranged marriage of my youngest son, Van and your oldest daughter, Kristina. I am already readying the marriage on the night the stars shine a bright pink color. I trust you approve of my date and I am excited to be able to see my son become a part of the royal family.**_

_**Your friend and future brother-in-law,  
**__**Goau**_

Robin stared in surprise at the letter. Surely this letter had at least a tiny bit of importance. She re-folded the letter and placed it into a pocket, seeing no other item of importance, she left the King's room and closed the door behind her. As soon as she did, a scream came from the next room, "Oh my God! There's a body in here!"

Robin and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates ran into the room and looked at a pale Nicole. She had a hand over her mouth and used the other hand to point at a body laying on a luxuries looking bed with green sheets. The body wasn't moving.

Chopper put one of his hooves on the wrist of the body, but felt no pulse. Before he could announce it dead, a voice from the doorway announced, "It's too late. She's dead."

"How do you know that?" Nami asked Kristina.

Kristina took a deep breath, "Look more closely at the body."

The pirates obeyed her and took a closer look at the body on the bed. It was Kristina's body.

"The body has been dead for fifteen years. Don't even think about trying to bring the body to life. After being dead for fifteen years, there is no hope for bringing it back." Kristina told the group in the room.

"Whose room is this?" Zoro asked her.

She smiled, "Mine." Everyone looked around her room. It looked almost like her little sister's room except this room didn't have very many toys, the bed was bigger, the sheets and blankets were emerald green, and there were a lot more books on the shelves than in her sister's room.

Chopper grew bigger and read a few of the book titles on the shelf, "Hmmm…_Advanced Almani Spells_…_Strohschein's Encyclopedia on Science Fiction_…_Strohschein's Encyclopedia on Almani History Volume 58_…_Learning_ _to Be a Ruler by Strohschein_…_Will There Ever Be a Rainbow?_..." Chopper looked at Kristina, "You seem to have a bunch of books by Strohschein."

"Yeah, I know." Kristina told him, "Mr. Strohschein was one of my teachers when I was alive and he was a huge Science Fiction freak. He was constantly giving me books."

"What's _Will There Ever Be a Rainbow?_" Emily asked her.

Kristina sweat dropped, "It's a book that my Uncle Greg made about his life. He published a few copies, but before he could get it out to the public, my father and grandfather, who was the King at the time, banned the book. So Uncle Greg gave me his own personal copy."

"Do you have a room in this castle that shows the history of the Almani?" Nicole asked her.

Kristina nodded, "Yeah, on BF1. You guys are welcome to go anywhere else in the castle. It's been empty for fifteen years."

In an instant, almost everybody left the room. The only one that stayed in the room was Chopper, and the only reason he stayed was to examine the body and perform an autopsy.

Before he had the chance to touch the body, he noticed a book under a nice pile of fifteen-year-old dust. It was bookmarked by a pen. He blew most of the dust off of the book and looked at the cover. The book cover was a beautiful sky blue color and written in very delicate, emerald green letters was the word "Kristina". Carefully, Chopper opened the book up to the bookmarked page and began reading:

_4th sun, 10th day of bloody carnations  
__(Wednesday, January 10)_

_Dad got another letter from Pam this morning. He's really been stressed out about the letters lately. Ever since he banned her from Almania years ago, Dad said she was growing more powerful by using magic items made from magic creatures. He knows. Some of the animal spies he hired saw her._

_Every day, Dad tries his hardest to calm down every living thing in Almania and I try too, but it doesn't seem to do any good. Melissa isn't scared, though and I don't blame her. She's only ten, just a child. In fact, she doesn't even know about it. Dad and I originally kept it a secret from everything in Almania, but stupid cousin Joshua found out and spread the secret. How annoying._

_I went to the Royal Graveyard and prayed down in front of Grandpa. I silently asked him what to do about Pam and he came to me…or at least his spirit came. He tol-_

The entry ended there. The last two sentences were shaky and the entry was not signed. Chopper was going to ask Kristina about it, but she wasn't in the room. He didn't know where she was, actually. She kept disappearing and reappearing from room to room that it was hard to tell where she was or would end up next. But he shook off the thought, put down the book, and left the room.

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Bryce walked into Pam's office, a smirk on his face and a jar in his hands. The jar was lit with little multi-colored balls, like little rainbow fireflies…if there was any such thing. On his back was a large bag full of the bones of a dragon he had slain. The sword was dripping the dragon's blood through its sleath, but Bryce didn't seem to mind.

"Did you get what I asked for?" Pam asked.

Bryce nodded and handed her the jars, "Here it is: eight of the elemental fairies trained under Holly herself."

Pam smiled, "Excellent. Holly is the strongest of the elemental fairies. These surely have a lot of power in them. But what's in the bag?"

Bryce removed the bag and opened it up, "Dragon's bones. Fresh from Ruby Town."

Pam's smile grew larger, "Perfect." She walked over to a weird machine and opened up a small door to it. Quickly, she opened the jar and placed it into the machine. She shook all the fairies out of the jar and closed the machine door before any of the fairies could escape. She then walked to Mark's ball and called out in a sing-song voice, "Oh, Mark."

Mark appeared, "Yes, Lady Pam?"

"Now, where is that little Almani girl?" Pam asked. She was in too much of a good mood to call Emily a brat. Slowly, a picture of the castle was shown. "The Castle! Of course! I knew she'd get there eventually." Pam shouted. She walked to the machine and placed her power-sucking pendant on it. The fairies were already trying to get out, but couldn't. With an evil laugh, Pam turned on the machine. The fairies inside screamed in pain, but Pam ignored them.

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"Man, the Royal Family really had a lot of weapons." Zoro announced, looking from weapon case to weapon case in the outside training center of the castle.

"Well, I can imagine. I mean, knights, kings, princes, and Kristina used them, too. She told me that." Emily piped up from behind him.

Zoro turned to her, "You really made friends with that ghost. Are you planning on staying here after we get rid of Pam?" He was worried that Emily would say that she'd stay in Almania.

Emily roughly shook her head, "Hell no! I'm a WANTED pirate. I'm sticking with you forever!" Both of them laughed. Their laughter was cut off when a large shadow shone over them.

"What the Hell?" Zoro asked. Both looked up at the sky and Emily let out an ear-piercing scream.

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A/N: Well, that's another chapter. Okay, I don't own the characters Van and Goau. They were 2 people from Escaflowne that I borrowed(Van is my favorite character and Goau is his father). Crebbin is actually my Pre-Calculus teacher and Mr. Strohschein is my Science Fiction teacher (he peeked over my shoulder when I was writing this story during Science Fiction, so I decided to add him in my story). Ummm…if you have any questions about my story, don't hesitate to e-mail me. Oh, and R/R, but please don't flame me.


	16. Tales From the Dead

Ch. 16- Tales From the Dead

Disclaimer: Sorry, but I don't own One Piece

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_Friday, November 22_

_Emily was kidnapped again and it's really my fault that Pam took her. If I would have gotten to her in time, we would have used the three Dark Diamond Bracelets and Pam would have been destroyed, but I came too late. The crew said that it wasn't my fault. They said that it wasn't my fault. They said that I had no idea that Pam was going to come when I was all the way at the other side of the castle._

_Kristina told me that every Almani, even the deceased, have a story but to hear it you have to want to listen and believe the story. She said that may help us into finding out exactly what will happen to Emily. Dammit, I don't have time to listen to stories. It's my fault that Emily got captured and I'm not going to waste any time helping getting her back._

_-Nami_

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Emily's scream echoed throughout Emerald Town. Stepping out of the shadows was a tall, blonde man, Pam, Lyssa, and Sabrina.

"Emily, get behind me." Zoro demanded, half shoving the small girl behind him. Zoro took out his three swords and got ready to attack.

Pam laughed, "There's four of us and one of you. This won't take very long."

"You're not taking her again." Zoro told her through the sword in his mouth.

Pam laughed, "I'm not going to take her. I'm going to borrow her. I'll give her back when I'm done with her." Emily started shaking in fear and grabbed the back of Zoro's shirt.

Zoro shook his head at Pam, "Forget it. She's staying with me." Pam laughed louder than she did before.

Pam held up her power-sucking pendant and took all the power from the elemental fairies that Bryce captured earlier. Her hazel eyes glowed and she called out, "Super Possess!" A shot of thin red light flew from Pam, passed Zoro, and into Emily. Emily let out a quick scream of pain then stopped. Her blue-green eyes were empty and her hand let go of Zoro's shirt. Her body was no longer shaking.

"Emily?" Zoro asked, looking behind him. Emily didn't respond, nor did she move. Zoro's eyes burned with anger as he shot a pissed off look at Pam, "What the Hell did you do to her?"

Pam laughed and called out, "Come here, Emily." Without hesitation, Emily walked around Zoro and towards Pam. Before Zoro could stop Emily, Pam turned to the tall, blonde man next to her, "Get him, Bryce."

The man nodded and jumped down in front of Zoro. Bryce calmly closed his eyes and made four copies of him. At the same time, the five Bryces unsleathed swords and started going after Zoro.

"Emily! Stop!" Zoro yelled at the smaller girl. Emily didn't. One of Bryce's swords slashed one of Zoro's legs.

A river of blood flowed out of the slash, but not one of the two men stopped fighting. Kristina, Chopper, and Sanji ran into the room and stared in shock at the five men fighting Zoro and Emily walking mindlessly towards Pam.

"Emily? What are you doing?" Chopper asked the possessed girl. Emily kept moving.

Sanji stepped forward and grabbed Emily's right hand and tried pulling her back, but it didn't do any good. Although she was much smaller and physically weaker than he was, she kept walking and got out of his grip. The rest of the group came up and screamed for Emily to stop and come back, but she didn't hear them.

Emily finally did stop when she stood next to Pam. Pam slipped an arm over Emily's shoulders and smirked at the Straw Hat Pirates. Zoro was still fighting with the five Bryces, but the Bryces weren't getting injured.

"Mother! Look at her eyes!" Lyssa screamed to Pam while pointing at Emily. Emily's eyes were starting to fill up.

"Damn! The effect is wearing off!" Pam yelled.

The first thing she did was order Sabrina and Lyssa to hold Emily. Once the task was complete, Pam lifted a hand and roughly smacked Emily in the back of the head.

Immediately, Emily's eyes closed and she fell unconscious in the arms of Lyssa and Sabrina.

Pam roughly grabbed Emily by the waist and lifted her up off of the ground, "Okay, Bryce. We can go now."

One of the Bryces nodded his head and walked over to Pam.

The lone Bryce reached into his pocket. The remaining four disappeared. Bryce took his hand out of his pocket and hurled something at the ground. A huge cloud of smoke surrounded Pam, Lyssa, Sabrina, Emily, and Bryce.

Quickly, Zoro dashed to the cloud in hopes of getting Emily's body free from Pam's clutches, but the cloud disappeared along with Pam, Lyssa, Sabrina, Emily, and Bryce before he got there. Zoro fell to his knees and slammed a fist onto the ground, "Dammit! Not again! How the Hell could I let this happen to her again?"

Nami turned her head to the ground, "It's not your fault. It's mine."

Zoro looked at her in disbelief, "What do you mean?"

Nami lifted her head, "I didn't come in time. If I would have gotten here earlier, I could have used my Dark Diamond Bracelet to help destroy Pam and Emily wouldn't have been captured again."

Zoro shook his head, "No, it's my fault. I should have protected her."

"It's not any of your faults," Luffy yelled from in between Nami and Zoro, "Nobody knew that Pam would know that we were here or that she'd do what she did to capture Emily."

Zoro and Nami tried to protest, but the rest of the group wouldn't listen to them, not until they agreed that it wasn't their fault.

"Dammit, I was hoping that I'd never see Bryce again." Kristina muttered, slamming a fist into one of her hands.

"What do you mean?" Nicole asked her.

"Bryce is an illusionist who used to live in the villages outside of Almania. Years ago, he used his illusions to scare people to death. He got kicked out of his village and joined Pam. He was one of the people destroying my town." Kristina answered.

"So, do you know where Pam might be with Emily?" Zoro asked her.

Kristina stared at him, "I already told you I didn't."

"Well then how the Hell are we supposed to find out where they are? It's not even sunset yet, so the fairies aren't out!" Zoro exploded.

"There is another way to find out." Kristina told him.

"How can there be another way? You said that we could ask the magical creatures to see if they knew." Nicole asked her.

Kristina partially smirked, "I didn't say that was the ONLY way. There is another."

"Which is?" Zoro asked.

"Every Almani, dead or alive, has a story. All you have to do is be patient and you may get the answer you're looking for. That's all I can tell you." Kristina answered.

"Well, how do we get to hear the stories?" Luffy asked anxiously.

"You're going to have to find that one out for yourself. See ya." Kristina told him. Before anyone could ask anything else, she disappeared. Everybody stared at each other in confusion and annoyance. Now they had no idea where Pam was holding Emily.

"Well, we might as well start looking." Luffy announced to his crew and Nicole. They all nodded in agreement.

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"Mother, are we almost there? This place is giving me the creeps." Lyssa shuddered as she walked in between Pam and Sabrina.

"Almost Lyssa." Pam answered in annoyance. She turned to Bryce, who was walking next to her with an unconscious Emily on his back, "She still out?"

Bryce nodded, "I think you hit her hard enough to keep her like this for at least another hour."

Lyssa kept shivering as she followed Pam, Sabrina, Bryce, and Emily down a dark hallway. Pam and Sabrina were the only ones holding lanterns, but even that light was extremely dim.

"Is she heavy, Bryce?" Sabrina asked.

"Who?" Bryce asked cluelessly.

"The girl on your back, stupid." Sabrina softly shouted.

"Oh. No, she's actually pretty light. You just better hope that she can do the job." Bryce answered.

"Oh, she will. Trust me." Pam said out loud.

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"Ryan, we're here!" Tashigi called to her younger cousin. Immediately, Kim, Kelly, and Ryan ran out onto the deck of the Marine's ship.

"Wow, it's beautiful." Kelly gasped as she looked at the lush, green plants of Almania.

"Is she really here?" Kim asked Ryan. Ryan shrugged, "She'd better be. We've been traveling this far and I'm almost positive that this is where she'd end up."

"Hey! There's another ship here!" Kelly shouted, pointing at a nearby ship.

"Is it that pirate ship with Zoro on it?" Ryan asked, leaning over the edge of the ship to get a closer look.

"No, it's not." Tashigi told him, "This ship is much different." The ship docked and Ryan drug his friends to their quarters to grab their swords.

"Come on. Let's go search the ship. Maybe she's on it." Ryan whispered to his friends.

"Okay." Kim and Kelly whispered back and started to follow him back up to the deck.

The three of them were now on the deck and would have gotten off the ship…if they hadn't have been stopped by a voice yelling, "Glory! Himura! Uchiha!" Kim, Kelly, and Ryan jumped and turned around to see Smoker staring at them.

"S-smoker-san?" Kim asked.

"What are you three doing up here?" Smoker asked them, blowing a bit of smoke at them.

"Ummm…can we go investigate the ship?" Ryan asked.

Smoker looked at all three of them and sighed, "Tashigi and a few others are leaving to investigate. You may go with them."

"Arigato!" Kim, Kelly, and Ryan shouted, bowing their heads and heading for Tashigi.

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Footsteps echoed within BF1, the room on Almani history.

Nicole had been there before and had returned again with Robin and Zoro following her. This second trip seemed a little…strange since she went down the first time. The floors were still dusty and full of cobwebs, but the strange thing came from the stones that had the names of the Royal Family members. Some of the names were glowing even though they didn't before.

Carefully, with the question of what happened to Almania fifteen years earlier, Nicole lifted a hand to the glowing letters that formed the name "Melissa" and touched it. A vision filled her head, one so horrible in Nicole's opinion that made her cry. Quickly, she removed her hand, her body shaking and tears rolling down her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked the younger girl.

It took Nicole a minute to speak, "I asked what happened fifteen years ago and a name glowed. I touched it and saw what happened. It was horrible."

Just to see what Nicole was talking about, Robin asked in her head the same question Nicole asked, placed her hand on Melissa's glowing name, and watched the vision.

- - - - VISION- - - -

Melissa sat on a chair in her bedroom, drinking lemonade and playing with some of her stuffed animal dogs. Everything was peaceful and quiet…until a loud bang and screams filled the air. Melissa jumped in surprise and accidentally tipped over her glass. "Oh man, Dad's going to kill me." She sighed, staring at the spilled liquid on the floor.

Melissa got up and started heading for the window to see what all the screaming was about, but before she got there, a figure burst in, grabbed her arm, and dragged her into the hallway. The next thing she knew, she was standing next to her sister and in front of her dad. Both Kristina and her dad looked afraid.

"What's happening, Dad?" Kristina asked, stammering a little.

"Almania is under attack. I need you girls to evacuate the castle while the others fight off the demons." their father answered.

"Aren't Joshua and Andrew coming, too?" Melissa asked.

Her father shook his head, "They will be staying here fighting."

"But, why do they get to fight and not us?" Melissa asked.

"Yeah." Kristina agreed.

"Your cousins are seventeen and fifteen." Their father simply answered.

"But Andrew's a year younger than me. Why can't I fight? I'm more experienced in sword-fighting than both of them put together." Kristina asked angrily.

"Your cousins are boys and none of them are possible heirs to the throne." her father told her.

"Dammit…" Kristina muttered.

"Now, take your sister and hide someplace safe, Kristina. You can come out when the attack when the attack is over and I'll keep the promise I made." Her father demanded.

Kristina stomped a foot, "Fine." She grabbed Melissa's hand and started running, avoiding the guards running passed both girls. Both girls suddenly stopped.

"The doorway is completely blocked off!" Melissa yelled, pointing ahead at the front door, which was blocked by knights and the girls' teachers running around, grabbing weapons and armor and following orders.

Kristina looked around with a scared look on her face. She knew there would be no way to get through the front door without some help, but even _that_ was unlikely to happen. Kristina noticed one of her teachers running into the room with a sword and shield. "Mr. Strohschein!" Kristina yelled.

Her teacher stopped, "Get out of the castle!"

"But the front door is blocked!" Melissa yelled.

"Then find another exit!" Mr. Strohschein yelled back and continued running.

"The back!" Kristina told her sister. Both girls ran as fast as they could to the back door of the castle, avoiding all the running fighters. As they ran, a hand grabbed Kristina's free arm and stopped them. Kristina quickly turned her head and stared into the eyes of the boy she was arranged to marry, "Van?"

Van moved a sword into her free hand, "Use this to kill anything that gets in your way."

"What about you?" Melissa asked. Van was silent.

"You're not going to fight are you?" Kristina asked wide-eyed.

Van nodded. "No! I won't let you fight. You can't do it!" She yelled.

Van put his hands on her shoulders, "I have to fight. I promise that I'll come looking for both of you when all this fighting is over with. I promise."

"Alright." Kristina told him. Van gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and Melissa a soft pat on her blonde head and left. Kristina dragged Melissa out the back door and into the large yard.

At first the girls couldn't move. There was so much fighting, blood, and death all around them. They saw Pam, Bryce, and a few of their servants killing their beloved race. Finally Kristina able to move again. She ran passed all the screaming and fighting, dragging Melissa next to her.

"Where are we going?" Melissa shouted.

"I'm taking you to my garden." Kristina shouted back.

Suddenly Kristina stopped.

Melissa looked at her sister's back and screamed. In her sister's back were two daggers. Blood was coming out of the wounds, but the daggers were still stuck. Kristina let go of Melissa's hand, moved her sword into Melissa's hands, and started to put her hands behind her back.

Quickly, Kristina pulled out the two daggers, turned around to see two of Pam's servants floating around in jet packs and laughing at her, and threw the daggers back at them. The laughing stopped right when the daggers went through their throats. Kristina took her sword and Melissa's hand and kept running.

"Kristina, you're bleeding!" Melissa yelled, looking at her sister's back.

"It's okay. I'll take care of it when we get to my garden." Kristina yelled back, wincing in pain but not stopping.

The girls were not far from Kristina's garden when Melissa stopped, "I forgot my teddy bear!"

"Melissa, you can get it after the attack is over. Now we have to keep going." Kristina yelled, trying to pull her younger sister towards the garden.

"No, I have to get him. Mama gave him to me before she died and I can't leave him alone." Melissa yelled, yanking her hand out of Kristina's, "I'll be back in a minute!"

"Melissa, wait!" Kristina yelled, reaching for her sister, but it was too late.

Melissa ran right into the battle, back to the castle. Melissa dashed by her dying race and her enemies. She was only a few feet away from the castle entrance when Pam walked up to her and shoved a sword into her chest, killing her instantly.

- - - -END VISION- - - -

Robin removed her hand and stared in shock at what she had just seen. "My God…" she gasped.

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked, walking up to her.

"Ask a question, put your hand on the glowing name, and you'll get a story. God, this one was terrible." Robin told him still in shock.

Zoro shrugged his shoulders, "Fine." He closed his eyes and silently asked,

"Where did they bring Emily?" He opened his eyes and saw the name "Joshua", a cousin of Melissa, glow. Zoro touched Joshua's name and started watching the vision that entered his head.

- - - -VISION- - - -

"Are we almost there?" A young voice whispered.

"Almost." Another whispered back.

"Why couldn't we take the elevator to get down here?" A third voice, the deepest voice, asked.

"You dumbass, Joshua. If we would have used the elevator, we'd get caught." the first voice said to the third.

The owner of the second voice stopped, "I think we're here. Stephanie, shoot a fireball straight ahead." The owner of the first voice shot a flame straight ahead and saw the Royal Family crest glow. "We're here." The second voice announced.

The owners of the voices walked forward and pushed open the door with the crest. With her powers, Stephanie lit the many torch holders in the room they were now standing in.

Joshua closed the door behind him. He looked around the room in surprise, "Wow…I never knew there was such a place in this very castle."

Kristina stared at him, "Of course there is. What the hell have your parents been teaching you?"

"My parents have taught me enough things to make me a ruler of Almania." Joshua exploded. Stephanie and Kristina softly smacked their foreheads.

"Joshua, you _aren't_ going to be a ruler. The ruler will either be me or my sister." Kristina told him.

Joshua laughed, "Yeah right. Like a twelve-year-old or a six-year-old are really going to rule."

"When we grow up, you idiot." Kristina softly shouted.

"Hey, what's this room used for?" Stephanie asked her twelve-year-old friend.

"This is where the most powerful Almani spells are stored. Only an alive person can use them, but you have to have complete control of your powers or you could die. Sacrifices were made here years ago." Kristina explained.

"Really?" Stephanie asked. Kristina nodded. "Then why aren't we allowed to be down here?" Stephanie asked.

"Years ago, 150 I think, the king decided not do to the sacrifices anymore, but since this room was part of the castle, he couldn't demolish this room, so he locked it up. The king was also afraid that one of the Almani would not understand the importance and danger of this room and accidentally sacrifice themselves for nothing." Kristina explained.

"Why can't I read these writings on the walls?" Joshua asked, pointing at the written spells on the walls, platforms, and shelves.

"Because you skipped class when we were taught how to speak the really really REALLY old Almanian language, stupid." Kristina told him.

Stephanie leaned towards Kristina's ear and whispered, "Why did we have to bring Joshua down with us and not Andrew or Melissa?"

"Because I couldn't find Andrew, Melissa would have told on us and gotten us in trouble, but even though Joshua will probably tell on us, he'll get in trouble also for being with us." Kristina whispered back.

Stephanie nodded.

"I like this place." Joshua said out loud.

"Me too. It was worth coming down four floors to this room." Stephanie agreed.

- - - -END VISION- - - -

Zoro quickly removed his hand from Joshua's name. Was the vision telling him the truth? Was Emily really in the castle and just a few floors under the floor he was currently on? He didn't believe it was true, but then again, these stories didn't lie, or at least he was told they didn't. "I know where Emily is!" Zoro announced, running up to the first floor.

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Emily opened her blue-green eyes and looked around the room she was in. the room was lit with torches, a platform was under her feet, and Pam, her daughters, and Bryce were surrounding her.

"Ah, you're awake." Pam said in a sickly sweet voice.

Emily looked at her body. Her clothes that were given by Nami were gone as was her green hair ribbon. Now she wore a white ceremonial robe that was too big for her, a pair of white slippers that were also too big for her, and her beautiful emerald hair was tied into a bun with a white ribbon. She looked right at Pam with fear in her eyes and asked, "Where am I?"

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A/N: Okay, this chapter is done. All the new characters in this chapter are actual people. Joshua and Andrew are my cousins(Joshua is 11 months older than me, Andrew is a year younger than me) and Stephanie is a friend of mine.


	17. To the Sacrificing Room

Ch. 17- To the Sacrificing Room

Disclaimer: One Piece isn't mine…but this story is.

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_Friday, November 22_

_The Sacrificing Room, as Kristina called it, is where our musician is. I didn't believe Zoro when he ran up to the first floor, screaming that he knew where she was, but I heard Joshua's story and then believed it. The Sacrificing Room is like a maze, it's very easy to get lost in and there are tons of doors that lead to different rooms on the way, but nobody's worried about it. All we're worried about is getting Emily back before it's too late._

_-Sanji_

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"I know where Emily is!" Zoro's voice echoed throughout the castle. The rest of the pirates walked up to him with surprised looks on their faces.

"You know where she is?" Nami asked him with hope in her voice.

Zoro nodded, "Yeah, she's four floors under this one."

"The Sacrificing Room? Are you sure?" Kristina asked him.

"Yeah. I heard Joshua's story about the room when he went down there with you when I asked where Emily is." Zoro answered.

"Wow…didn't think that dumbass remembered going down there." Kristina said, remembering the incident nineteen years ago.

Zoro told her Joshua's story then asked, "Is that what really happened?"

Kristina nodded, "Oh yeah, that's what happened."

Zoro dragged the rest of the pirates down to the room where both Robin and Nicole stood, still in shock from hearing Melissa's story. He gave out instructions on how to hear Joshua's story and demanded that the others listen to it. The crew's eyes widened in shock.

"You mean she never even left the castle?" Nami asked in annoyance.

"I guess not. That asshole just made it _look_ like they ran away from the castle." Chopper muttered.

"You…" Zoro pointed at Kristina, "You're going to lead us to Emily."

"Uhhh…I can't." Kristina sweat dropped.

"What do you mean you can't?" Zoro exploded.

"I don't know the way to the Sacrificing Room." Kristina admitted. Now Zoro was starting to get pissed with her.

"What do you mean you don't know the way to the Sacrificing Room?"

"On the way to the room are tons of traps, dead ends, and doors that lead to different rooms."

"You seemed to get to the Sacrificing Room fine."

"I had a map the last time I went down there."

"What happened to it?"

"After Dad caught Joshua, Stephanie, and me down there, he took away the map I used, but I had a spare."

"Where's the spare?"

"I gave it to Chelsea to hold so I wouldn't get caught with it."

"Who's Chelsea?"

"She's a fairy."

"You gave a map to a fairy?"

"Yes, I did. I think she still has it. You just have to find her. She lives in the deepest part of the forest, right next to my garden."

"Damn! It's not sunset yet!"

"It should be soon and then you can go find Chelsea."

Zoro groaned, "Dammit!"

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"What do you think is in this ship?" Kim asked while walking towards Pam's ship.

Ryan shrugged, "Who knows."

Kelly agreed, "There might not even be anything on the ship."

Tashigi nodded in agreement then stopped in front of the ship. "Get ready. There may be something prepared to kill us." The other Marines obeyed her and got their swords out.

One of the male Marines put his hand on the doorknob on the deck of Pam's ship, turned, and pushed. Standing inside the room was Desiree and Doug, both not ready for battle. At first the Marines weren't going to fight them, but then both Desiree and Doug pulled out a sword each and started to attack. The Marines attacked them.

There was so much fighting that nobody even noticed Kim, Kelly, and Ryan walking into the next room. Kim, Kelly, and Ryan stared around the room the second they closed the door. All around the room laid many jail cells, most of them full of the barely alive bodies of nymphs, sirens, and other magical creatures.

"Oh my God…" Kelly gasped, stepping in front of Kayleigh's cell, "Are you okay?" Kayleigh opened her eyes halfway and slowly turned her head towards Kelly.

"Hey! What are you kids doing here?" A voice from behind them yelled. Kim, Kelly, and Ryan jumped and quickly turned only to see the annoyed face of yet another of Pam's servants, Joey.

"Uhhh…I…" Ryan began.

"Get out of here, you damn filthy Marines!" Joey screamed, pulling out a pistol. Kim, Kelly, and Ryan didn't move. They were frozen in fear at the thought of Joey shooting at least one of them down. A bullet then shot out of the pistol and just whizzed by Kim's head and hit the wall. Now they were able to move.

Quickly, Kim, Kelly, and Ryan ran at Joey with their swords drawn. At the same time, the three of them sliced Joey with their swords until his life was completely gone. For a minute, they stared in horror at what they had just done. But they shook off the thought as they remembered what their fathers, also Marines, told them: "If something tries to kill you, then it's okay to kill them."

Ryan walked over to Joey's bleeding body and pulled out a set of metal keys. Without wasting a second, Ryan stepped in front of Kayleigh's cell, unlocked it, and stepped inside. "Can you stand?" Ryan asked, kneeling in front of Kayleigh.

Kayleigh shook her head and looked at the iron shackles on her ankles, chaining her to the floor.

Ryan let out a sigh and experimented with the keys to see which would unlock the shackles.

Two minutes later, Ryan had found the right key and unlocked the shackles. Kim and Kelly helped the weak Kayleigh to her feet.

"Can you stand on your own?" Kelly asked Kayleigh. Kayleigh again shook her head and moved a hand onto her extremely thin stomach.

"What's wrong with her?" Ryan asked.

"I think she's hungry." Kim told him.

Ryan smiled, reached into his pocket, and pulled out something in a plastic bag.

"Ryan, what the hell is that?" Kelly asked with a gross look on her face.

"The tuna sandwich I didn't eat for lunch." Ryan answered.

"Eeewww! Ryan, lunch was six hours ago, the sandwich is smashed, it was by your ass, AND you added peanut butter and salsa to the sandwich." Kim squealed.

"Yeah," Kelly added, "No person in their right mind would eat it."

"Well, then how are we going to get her food?" Ryan asked.

"Maybe from the Marine's ship." Kim suggested.

"Good idea." Kelly agreed.

"You're right. And I think Kim should go and get the food." Ryan announced.

"WHAT? Why me?" Kim asked.

"You're the smallest and it was your suggestion." Ryan simply answered.

Kim turned her head towards Kelly for support, but got none. Kim frowned, "Fine. Just be sure to unlock all the cells."

"Okay." Kelly smiled. Kim then ran out of the room.

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"Where am I?" Emily asked fearfully.

"Welcome to the Temple of Almani Secrets." Pam answered, laughing. Bryce, Lyssa, and Sabrina joined her.

"What do you want with me?" Emily asked, tears stinging her eyes.

Pam stopped laughing, "You will be the one to give us the secrets."

Emily blinked and shook her head, "No. I won't do it. You can't make me!"

Pam laughed and cupped her hand under Emily's chin, "Honey, I was able to possess you earlier, so don't tell me that I can't make you."

Emily turned her head towards Pam's power sucking pendant. It had no power in it and was not glowing, so Emily smirked knowing that there'd be no way for Pam to possess her again. "You don't have any power to make me do anything." Emily pointed out.

"Oh really?" Pam asked before turning to Bryce, "Give me the green jar." Bryce obeyed her and placed a green jar in Pam's hands.

"What's that?" Emily asked.

"This, sweetie, is power made from the bones of an Almani family: a mother, father, and little boy from a little town called Kupeviru."

Emily stopped, her smirk disappeared, and her eyes widened. She didn't say anything at first, but when she could, she asked, "Mother, Father, and Aron?"

Pam smiled and nodded, "I heard that you were a smart girl, smarter than the average twelve-year-old and I guess this proves it. Don't worry; they won't feel a thing when I use them."

Tears rolled down Emily's cheeks, "No…"

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"Hey, Zoro! It's sunset!" Luffy cried out loud, pointing at the pink and golden sky.

"Finally. Now we can go out." Zoro sighed, walking through the front door of the castle and feeling relieved that Kristina didn't stop him. He walked to the part of the forest that Chelsea was in and watched the creatures dancing around the forest, all singing, dancing, and having fun even though Pam was still around.

A little girl with long blonde hair and big green eyes stopped in front of Zoro. The girl tilted her head and asked, "Are you one of Pam's friends?" Zoro shook his head. "Are you her enemy?" The girl asked. Zoro nodded. "What's your name?" the girl asked.

"Zoro." Zoro answered.

The girl stuck out her hand and announced, "Nice to meet you. I'm Shelby and from now on, you and me are friends."

"Ummm…okay…so, what are you? A nymph?" Zoro asked.

Shelby shook her head, "No, I'm a siren. And when my best friend comes back, I'll be able to grow up and lure sailors here."

"Do you know where Chelsea is?" Sanji asked her.

Shelby nodded, "She's in the big flower bushes with James and Janelle. They're so mean. They're always making fun of me and Alexandra."

"Yeah." a voice from Shelby's shoulder agreed.

The Straw Hat Pirates took a closer look at Shelby's shoulder and noticed a small blonde haired girl with fairy wings and a blue dress, obviously the girl called Alexandra. The pirates nodded and went to the direction of Shelby's finger. Before opening up the bushes, they stopped to listen to a little conversation between three others that had been going on:

"Then, before anybody could say anything, I gave Jennifer a slight shove and she fell right into a huge blackberry."

"Wow. Then what happened?"

"Yeah, I can't believe it was you that did it."

"Brian had all the fairies not training under Holly dig her out. Jennifer was so dark red when we got her out."

"She still is."

"Yeah, and I didn't even get caught. They think she tripped.

"You are so mean, James."

"Yeah, I know. But, hey, she deserved it."

Zoro opened up the bushes and stopped the conversation between three fairies.

"What do YOU want?" A black haired girl asked.

"Which of you is Chelsea?" Zoro asked, ignoring the girl's rudeness.

"Who wants to know?" A dark haired girl asked.

"So, you're Chelsea?" Zoro said, pointing at the second girl.

"I may be, but I may not be." the second girl answered.

"Look, are you Chelsea or not?" Sanji asked.

The second girl sighed, "Fine. Yes, I am Chelsea. Now what do you want?"

"I want you to give us the map to the Sacrificing Room of the castle." Zoro told her.

"Fuck you! I'm not giving anybody that map. It's mine." Chelsea yelled.

"Give it to me." Zoro demanded.

"No!" Chelsea shouted.

"Please. We really need the map." Robin pleaded.

Chelsea shook her head, "I said No!"

"Why won't you give us the map?" Nicole asked, slightly annoyed at Chelsea.

"Because this map is mine and I refuse to give it to my enemy." Chelsea answered.

"Yeah." The other girl agreed.

"We're not talking to you, brat." Zoro said to the other girl.

"My name is Janelle. And whatever has to do with my best friend has to do with me." the girl yelled. The 3rd figure, a boy called James, agreed.

"But we aren't the enemy." Nicole tried telling Chelsea, James, and Janelle.

"Then, what do you need the map for?" Chelsea asked, placing a hand on her side. She did not want to give up her map unless she really had to.

"Our musician is the last of the Almani. She was kidnapped and taken to the Sacrificing Room by Pam and we heard that you have a map that leads us to the room." Zoro told Chelsea.

"I see…" Chelsea said before getting into a huddle with James and Janelle and started whispering.

"So now do you believe that we aren't the enemy?" Luffy asked. James, Janelle, and Chelsea stopped whispering, looked at Luffy, and shook their heads.

"To get us to believe you, we have to take you to King Brian. He'll decide if you are the enemy." James told the pirates.

Before anything else was said, the fairy king suddenly appeared as if on instinct. Brian looked at the pirates and Nicole with his wise eyes.

Then, after a few minutes, Brian announced, "They are not the enemy. They were helping the final Almani." Then he quickly disappeared. Zoro turned his head to Chelsea,

"Now can we have the map?" Chelsea shrugged, "Fine. Just give it back when you're done."

Chelsea's small body grew bigger, about the length of Zoro's arm, and stuck her hand inside a pocket of her dress. She then took out her hand and brought out a detailed map of where all the traps were, what they were, and the path to the Sacrificing Room.

Zoro took and map and handed it to Nami, knowing that she'd be able to read it better than anyone else.

"Oh, by the way," Chelsea called out as they left, "Use the stairs. You'll have a harder time finding your friend if you use the elevator."

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Kim was lucky to escape Pam's ship, sneak into the kitchen on the Marine's ship, stuff a bunch of food in a bag, run off the ship, sneak passed the battle with the Marines and Pam's servants, and back to Kelly and Ryan without getting caught or hurt. After kneeling in front of Kayleigh, Kim dug into her bag and pulled out a bunch of bananas. She partially peeled one and handed it to Kayleigh, "Do you want a banana?"

Kayleigh quickly devoured the banana in less than a second.

"Wow…" Kim gasped. She held out another banana, "Want another one?" Kayleigh devoured that one, too.

As soon as she was done, Kayleigh looked up at Kim, "Thank you."

"What's your name?" Kim asked.

"Kayleigh." Kayleigh answered, standing up on her feet with a slight wobble.

"Careful. You don't want to fall over." Kim told Kayleigh.

Kayleigh shook her head, "No, it's all right. Nymphs can get their energy back rather quickly. All we need to have is something to eat. Actually, that's how it is with the rest of us in these cells."

"So, you're okay?" Kim asked.

Kayleigh nodded, "I'm fine. Just save everyone else. I don't know how much longer we can last in these cells."

Kim obeyed Kayleigh and ran to the other cells, offering food and the bit of water she took from the kitchen. All the jailed creatures devoured their food and drinks just as Kayleigh had done and stood up on their own legs, their strength now restored.

"Who trapped you creatures in here?" Kelly asked Kayleigh.

Kayleigh's eyes filled with horror as she answered, "Pam."

Ryan's blue eyes widened, "We're on Pam's ship?"

Kayleigh nodded her head, "Yes. This jail is where all of us were trapped, weakened, then had out powers sucked out to make Pam's magic items or to help her powers work. All the smaller creatures are in that room." Kayleigh pointed at a nearby door.

"Did you hear Pam say anything about our friend?" Kim asked.

"Who's your friend?" Kayleigh asked.

"Emerald Emily." Ryan told her.

Kayleigh thought for a moment then nodded, "Yeah. I heard Pam say after Emily escaped this ship that she'd find Emily and take her to a special room in the castle. Then, she'd force Emily to cast the ancient forbidden spells to rule the world then sacrifice her."

"That sick bitch." Ryan muttered.

"Ummm…before you leave, can you please free the trapped creatures in the next room? They deserve to be free." Kayleigh asked.

Kim, Kelly, and Ryan nodded. "I just want the rest of you to escape to the forest." Ryan told her. Kayleigh nodded and ran off Pam's ship with the others in the jails.

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"I won't let you put them in any more pain!" Emily yelled. Pam frowned. The possession wouldn't work unless Emily was emotionally weak and Emily was determined to save the souls of her family, but it didn't matter. Pam had a way of getting Emily weaker. She stuck her hand in a bag and pulled out a framed picture.

The picture was of a beautiful young woman with silky brown curls, sparkling hazel eyes, and smiling cherry red lips. "Do you remember this woman?" Pam asked Emily, smirking. Emily thought really hard, but couldn't remember. She shook her head. Pam's smirk stayed on her face, "Think really hard, Emily. Think back nine years when you started working with a little brunette named Misao." Emily thought again and now she remembered:

- - FLASHBACK- - - -

"You two! You call this a clean floor? I've seen a pig pen cleaner than this!" A beautiful brunette woman screamed at three-year-old Emily and Misao.

"We're sorry, ma'am." both girls muttered, dipping sponges in the huge buckets full of hot, soapy water.

The woman frowned and kicked the two little girls so hard that they slid across the kitchen floor and hit the wall. The buckets tipped over and spilled the dirty water all over the floor.

The woman ignored Emily and Misao's small cries of pain and stared at them with hate in her eyes. "Start over!" she demanded the little girls. The woman looked at a nearby stove boiling a large pot of water. An older boy and girl walked into the kitchen and the woman stopped them, "You two. What is that water used for?"

"It's for Master's bath, ma'am. But if you'll be needin' it now, we can just boil another pot for the bath." The girl told her with a light accent.

The woman told the boy and girl to move the boiling water into the larger of the two buckets. Following the woman's commands, the girl mixed some cleaning fluid in the still boiling water and stirred with a spoon while the boy got out two extra sponges. As soon as the tasks were done, the woman looked at the boy and girl and demanded their names and ages.

"My name is Kelsey, ma'am. I'll be turnin' fifteen in the summer." the girl answered.

"My name is Keith, ma'am. I am fourteen years of age." the boy answered.

The woman turned to Emily and Misao, "You see this, girls? Kelsey and Keith know their place over here and can do their jobs in perfection." She dismissed Kelsey and Keith with a nod then turned back to Emily and Misao, "Now, start scrubbing." Emily and Misao didn't move. "Didn't you hear me?" The woman screeched.

"But ma'am…the water is boiling." Emily said, noticing the bubbles in the bucket.

"So what! Do it or I will not hesitate to whip your little backs."

Emily and Misao grabbed their new sponges and dipped their hands in the boiling water. Emily and Misao took the sponges out of the water and began to scrub the floor. A red color was being painted on the ground also, but it wasn't from the fluid Kelsey put into the water and the girls were crying in pain.

"Keep scrubbing until I get back and the floor better be spotless and free of blood." The woman demanded before leaving.

Emily and Misao cried constantly in pain, but did as the woman told them to do. The woman came back, slapped the girls because they were still crying, and sent them back to their room.

Misao's father was already in the room when the still sobbing three-year-olds came in with their hands behind their backs. "What's wrong?" Misao's father asked. Emily and Misao held out their small hands.

Misao's father let out a gasp. The girls' small hands were plagued with blisters, fresh ones. Now he knew why they were crying. "That woman did this to you, didn't she?" he asked. Emily and Misao nodded. Misao's father let out an angry sigh. He really hated that woman more than the angel of death that took away his wife and little daughter. Quickly, he treated the girl's wounds and placed both girls on his knees, "I'm so sorry, girls."

- - END FLASHBACK- - - -

"That's the woman that forced us to dip our hands in the boiling water. Is that you?" Emily asked.

Pam's smirk grew bigger, "That's a smart girl. I was the master's younger sister. Oh, and do you know why Misao's father wasn't given a trial before he was killed?" Emily shook her head. "I suggested that he didn't need one." Pam laughed.

Emily's eyes got wider, "Why?"

"Because, sweetie, he was giving you girls future dreams and goals. He was making it so you girls weren't seeing your place in life. Besides, he was just a slave." Pam told her. Emily stared in shock. "And ever since you joined the pirates, you forgot your place. Well now, Emily, I'm putting you back as my own slave." Pam laughed louder as she looked at Emily's tearstained face.

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Footsteps echoed down four flights of stairs as the Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole walked to the very bottom floor that led to the Sacrificing Room. The floor was dark, but luckily before they came down, Usopp and Robin grabbed a few lanterns, so the paths in front of them and the map in Nami's hands was lit up. _Finally, we're on our way, I just hope we're not too late. _Zoro thought inside his head.

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A/N: Ah, another chapter done. Shelby and Alexandra are real people (they're my sister's best friends. I promised them a part in my story). I know that in a few of my earlier chapters I had another character named James, but…let's say that the second James I introduced is another person, okay? Hope ya liked this chapter.


	18. The Spirits that Dwell Underground

Ch.18: The Spirits that Dwell Underground

Disclaimer- I don't own One Piece. But if I did, I'd be really popular in Japan.

A/N: For the next chapter or so, the beginnings will not have a diary entry.

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"Okay, now which way do we go first?" Zoro frantically asked Nami.

Nami took a look at the map in her hands and answered, "We go west until we reach the first fork in the path."

"Cool! Food is involved?" Luffy asked happily.

Nami stared at him, "No, you idiot. We have to stop when the path leads to more than one direction."

"So, there's no food?" Luffy asked cluelessly. Nami shook her head. Luffy grunted, "This journey sucks."

"Yeah, we know it sucks, but it will be over when we fight Pam and free Emily." Zoro told him, not stopping.

"How long will we have to travel in order to get there?" Nicole asked from behind Nami.

Nami looked over the map in her hands, "Without the short-cut…about 45 minutes."

"That long? What's in the short-cuts?" Zoro asked.

"It says there are spirits." Nami answered.

"We're taking the short-cut." Luffy decided, "What could a bunch of stupid ghosts do?" As soon as he finished saying that, he was kicked into a nearby wall, and it wasn't by Sanji. "Itai! Sorry, Kristina." He said as he removed himself from the wall. He turned around to face Kristina, but she wasn't there. Nobody could see her, but they had a strong feeling that she was there.

The pirates and Nicole shook off the thought and continued their way, this time through the short-cut, which would take probably 20 minutes of walking. After four minutes of walking, they stopped at a stone wall. "So, where is the spirit?" Chopper asked, looking around the room. Right after he asked that, a pale man stood before them.

"I am the first of the five Guardians of the Ancient Secrets." the man announced to the already freaked out Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole.

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"Holy crap!" Ryan nearly yelled as he walked into the second room that held the trapped smaller creatures. Bottles were lit with the magic of some magic the creatures were unsuccessfully using to escape. There was light coming from almost everywhere in the room, but they weren't alone.

"Who the Hell are you?" A deep voice screamed at Kim, Kelly, and Ryan

Standing right in the far corner of the room was Pam's servant, Bob, with a bottle of beer in his left hand. Half of the beer was gone and Bob had a drunken look on his face.

"We are…Pam's new workers." Kelly told him.

Bob blinked his eyes and continued his beer. He chugged the rest of the alcohol down twelve seconds later and quickly passed out onto the floor.

"Wow, that was quick." Kim giggled. Kelly and Ryan nodded and laughed. Ryan walked to a bottle on a shelf holding three little fairies struggling to get out. He lifted the bottle off the shelf and opened it. Quickly, the fairies flew out, but soon fell to the floor.

"Maybe they're hungry, too." Kim said. Kelly nodded, pulled out a few strawberries, and placed them on the floor.

"Strawberries!" one of the fairies screamed. Soon, the three fairies were devouring the strawberries as fast as they possibly could. Ryan and Kim ran to other bottles while Kelly placed food on the floor: grapes, strawberries, raspberries, all the other types of edible berries, biscuits, fish cakes, and many other foods. Kim and Ryan grabbed some bottles and carried the weak fairies, pixies, and sprites to the food.

Kim, Kelly, and Ryan stared in amazed shock at the little creatures eating the food and regaining their strength.

"There are more of us in the closet." A young boy announced, holding part of a raspberry in his left hand and pointing at a nearby closet with his right.

Ryan headed for the closet and opened it. There were at least 30 bottles full of the little creatures, both dead and alive.

Ryan let out the little creatures, especially the ones that didn't make it to their freedom. Kelly fed the live creatures the food not already devoured by the others and there was not a lot left.

"There any more of you creatures?" Kim asked one of the sprites that finished its food.

The sprite nodded, "There are some in Pam's, Lyssa's, and Sabrina's rooms."

"Okay, we're going to go free them all." Ryan announced. He took a look at the little food that was left uneaten. "We should probably stop by the kitchen for some food. Anybody here know the way around this ship?" Ryan asked. Two sprites, a boy and a girl, raised their small hands. "Okay, you two will be coming with us." Ryan announced, "The others can head back to the forest." All the creatures nodded and the room was empty of all the creatures, even the deceased. Only the two sprites stayed.

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A pair of blue-green eyes was now wider than they had ever been before. "She's shocked! Excellent! Bryce, give me her family's bones!" Pam screamed. Bryce opened up the green jar full of the magic potion made from Ryou, Lilie, and Aron. Pam gently placed her power-sucking pendant into the green jar and waited for the pendant to suck up every little bit of power.

When the pendant was full of Ryou, Lilie, and Aron's bones, Pam removed the pendant and aimed it at an unmoving Emily. "Super Possess!" Pam shouted. A large, fat line shot out of the pendant and hit Emily right on the chest.

Emily let out a loud but short scream of pain. But when her scream stopped, she looked even worse than the last time Pam possessed her.

There now that wasn't so bad now, was it?" Pam asked sweetly. Emily didn't answer; she just stared with her blank eyes.

"Wow…" Lyssa gasped.

"Mother, you did it. You possessed her…again." Sabrina added.

Pam nodded and headed for the left side of the room. "And now, to do what we have come here to do. Come here, Emily." Pam commanded. Emily obeyed her. "Now, read this." Pam commanded, pointing at a tablet.

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"In order for you to pass, you must answer my riddle, but be warned: you only get ONE guess." The spirit said in a spooky voice, "Are there any questions?"

"Yeah. Is that your actual speaking voice?" Nicole asked.

The spirit shook his head and spoke in a normal voice, "No, I just use this to scare off intruders. Are there any other questions?"

"If we guess wrong, leave, then come back, do we get another chance to guess?" Sanji asked.

The man shook his head, "Any other questions?" Nobody answered. The man smiled, "This one is one of my personal favorites: What is black and white and red all over?"

"A newspaper." The pirates, even Luffy, answered at the same time.

The man frowned, "Ah, damn! How did you know the answer?"

"That's the oldest joke ever. How couldn't we know it?" Nami asked.

"Yeah. You really have to get with the times." Usopp told the spirit.

The spirit blushed despite his pale body, "…Just go. You may pass, just go!" The pirates and Nicole didn't need to be told twice. They quickly walked passed the spirit.

After four more minutes of walking, they ere all stopped by a second spirit.

"I am the second of the five Guardians of the Ancient Secrets. Before you may pass, you must answer this riddle. But, be warned, there is only one guess allowed. Are you ready?" The spirit announced. Everybody nodded. "Good," the spirit answered, "Now, why did the boy throw the clock out the window?"

"He wanted to see time fly." Nicole simply answered.

The spirit frowned, "Dammit! Fine, you may pass."

The Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole nodded and walked passed the annoyed spirit. As they all walked, the eight of them noticed that the halls were getting darker and damper for every step they took. Everyone was shivering from the cold air that sharply hit their nervous bodies, but at least they were getting closer to the end.

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"Okay, before we leave, we need to know your names." Ryan told the two sprites in Kim and Kelly's hands.

The one in Kim's hands, a female sprite, answered, "I'm Stacey."

The other, a male sprite in Kelly's hands, answered, "I'm Matt." Kim, Kelly, and Ryan introduced themselves and moved Matt and Stacey onto Kim and Kelly's shoulders.

"Now, where is the kitchen?" Kim asked, picking up the almost empty bag of food.

Matt and Stacey gave them the directions and led the three Marines to the kitchen. Lexi was already in there, sipping a cup of tea. She looked up, "What the Hell?" Kim, Kelly, and Ryan took out their swords and stood in attack position.

Lexi stared at them, "Get those damn swords away from me." Kim, Kelly, and Ryan didn't move. "Didn't you hear me?" Lexi shouted. Kim, Kelly, and Ryan still didn't move.

Without standing, Lexi reached under the table, pulled out a pistol, and aimed at them. "Get out of here!" Lexi screamed. Nobody moved, not even when the other door opened and the pistol was knocked out of Lexi's hands. Kim, Kelly, and Ryan let out sighs of relief as they saw Tashigi and a few other Marines pinning Lexi to the ground and tying back her hands and feet.

"Untie me, NOW!" Lexi demanded, trying to squirm her way out of the ropes.

"Take her back to the ship." Tashigi commanded two nearby male Marines.

"Yes, ma'am." they shouted while leading Lexi over to the Marine's ship. Tashigi turned to Kim, Kelly, and Ryan, "Are you three okay?" Kim, Kelly, and Ryan nodded then headed for the refrigerator.

"What are you doing?" Tashigi asked as Ryan opened the door.

"We need food." Ryan answered while both him and Kelly stuffed vegetables, fruits, and everything else not junk food.

"You're hungry? Couldn't you eat on the Marine's ship?" Tashigi asked.

"It's not for us. It's for the rest of the fairies, sprites, and pixies on the ship." Kim told her.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Tashigi asked.

Kim, Kelly, and Ryan didn't answer her.

"Matt, Stacey. Where are the others?" Kim asked.

"There are some in Lyssa's room." Matt answered. "And in Sabrina's." Stacey added.

"Okay, which of those two has more of them?" Kim asked.

Matt and Stacey thought for a moment before answering, "Lyssa's."

"Then, that's where we're going." Ryan announced, leaving the room with Kim and Kelly following him.

"Hey! Wait!" Tashigi called out. They didn't stop. She let out a sigh and followed them.

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"Raey ytxis thgie- owt sneris decifircas. Rednuht flow denommus tsniaga setarip." Emily read.

"Translate it, stupid!" Pam screeched.

"Year Sixty Eight- two sirens sacrificed. Thunder wolf summoned against pirates." Emily translated.

"Read this now." Pam instructed, pointing at a tablet filled with words. Her finger was pointing at the very top words.

"Gninommus sedia." Emily read.

"Translation?" Pam asked.

"Summoning aides." Emily translated.

"Ooh! Summons! Summon one of the creatures!" Lyssa cried out.

"Yeah." Sabrina agreed.

Pam shook her head, "Later, girls. Right now we need her to tell us the rest of the secrets." Pam calmly told her daughters. Pam turned back to Emily, "I want you to keep reading these tablets until you find something saying about using these powers. Inform me when you find one." Emily obeyed her.

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The pirates and Nicole walked down the halls and were eventually stopped by yet another spirit. "I am the third of the five Guardians of the Ancient Secrets and to pass…" The spirit started.

"We have to answer the riddle and only get one chance. We know. We've been told this by the last two spirits." Zoro told the 3rd spirit.

"Good." The spirit held up his hand, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

The room was silent for a moment, mostly because the crew was covering the mouths of Luffy and Usopp to avoid having them blurt out the first thing that popped into their heads.

"Four. Four fingers, one thumb." Chopper answered.

"You are correct. You may continue." The spirit announced before completely disappearing. The group kept walking, ignoring the cold air that hit their skin. After five minutes, the fourth spirit stopped them.

"I am the fourth of the five Guardians of the Ancient Secrets. I will ask you a question and you will have only ONE guess. Are you ready?" Everyone nodded.

The spirit smiled, "Good. If you take the number 6, you can rotate it and make the number 9. So, 69 can be rotated to be 96. Which number between 1 and 99 can be rotated to be the largest number possible?"

All heads turned to Nami, Robin, and Chopper. The three of them looked at each other and thought of what may be the answer.

Nami and Chopper shrugged their shoulders. Now it was up to Robin. She thought hard, so hard that her head almost started to ache. Finally, she had the answer, "Eight. When you rotate the number, it turns to infinity."

The spirit smiled, "Correct. Excellent job. You may continue." The spirit disappeared and the pirates continued on their way, praising Robin for answering the question right.

Five minutes later, the fifth and final spirit stopped them. "I am the last of the five Guardians of the Ancient Secrets. Before you may pass, you must say the password. But be warned, you only have ONE guess." The spirit announced.

Nobody said anything. Nobody said or did anything until Zoro noticed, carved on the wall, Kristina's name. Closing his eyes, he silently asked for the password. When his eyes opened, he noticed the name glowing. He lifted his left hand onto the letters and listened to the story.

- - - -FLASHBACK- - - -

"Man, that last question was a pain-in-the-ass." Josh announced.

"No kidding." Twelve-year-old Kristina agreed before turning to Stephanie, "Hey, thanks for answering that math question."

"No problem." Stephanie answered.

"How many guardians do we have left?" Josh asked his cousin.

"Just one." Kristina answered. Then, without saying another word, she took a nearby rock and started carving her name in a wall.

"What are you doing?" Stephanie asked.

"Carving my name here." Kristina answered.

"I'm going to tell the King and your dad what you're doing." Josh shouted, pointing at her.

Kristina smirked at him, "Josh. Grandpa and Dad will punish you for not stopping me, so I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you." Josh shut his mouth.

"What's the password?" The 5th spirit asked.

"Uhhh…"Kristina said.

"You may pass." The spirit told her before disappearing.

"Wow…" Stephanie gasped, "That was easy."

- - - -END FLASHBACK- - - -

"So, what's the password?" The spirit asked impatiently.

"Uhhh…" Zoro answered.

The spirit frowned, "You may pass." Then the spirit disappeared into thin air. Without wasting a second, Zoro ran down the dark hallway with a lit torch in his hands.

"Zoro! Wait!" The group called, running after him with their own torches. Zoro didn't stop.

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Kim, Kelly, Ryan, and the rest of the Marines entered Lyssa's room…and it was possibly the most disgusting room they had ever seen before in their lives. The walls were painted hot pink, the bed was huge and lumpy, there were painted portraits of her all over the walls(the painter painted every lump of fat and made some Marines feel nauseas), and clothes were thrown everywhere. Not just that, but plates and half-eaten and molding foods were also everywhere.

"I'll check the closets." Kim announced, putting down the bags.

"I'll check her drawers." Kelly announced.

"I'll look under the bed." Ryan said.

All the Marines in the room went to different places. Everyone tore apart the room, freed all the little creatures, which were stuffed under her bed and all alive, fed them some of the foods, and set them free. Sabrina's room was next.

Sabrina's room was much cleaner than Lyssa's. The walls were painted baby blue, the bed was not quite as lumpy, and the creatures were easy to find. There were in her closet, in her desk, and most were inside her vanity. These were also all alive. After being fed and strengthened, the creatures left for their home and the Marines, Matt, and Stacey left for Pam's room.

Pam's room was completely spotless. Shelves were everywhere, filled with magical items that had fairies and sprites and pixies stuffed in them.

Quickly, Kim, Kelly, and Ryan took the items off the shelves and smashed them onto the ground. The items broke instantly and the creatures were freed.

Tashigi had noticed a large machine in the corner of the room. She opened it and saw the barely alive bodies of the six elemental fairies Bryce had captured. Their bodies were so beat up that nobody was sure if they were even going to live.

"Mark! You have to help Mark!" Stacey shouted.

"Where is he?" Ryan asked. Matt pointed at a crystal ball on Pam's desk. Mark's face appeared.

Ryan hurled the ball at the ground, but it didn't break. He tried again and he was unsuccessful. After Ryan's 8th try, Kim and Kelly decided to help him hurl the ball onto the stone floor. The ball shattered and a small male-fairy came out.

"Oh my God! Thank you! I thought I'd have to look at that ugly old woman forever!" Mark cried out.

Ryan led him over to Kim's open bag of food and watched in surprised at the small boy inhaling six raspberries half his size.

"Are there any more of you creatures on this ship?" Ryan asked.

Mark, still eating, shook his head, "You freed us all. But before you leave, I ask you to tie up the passed out man in the parlor and bring us creatures to our home."

"Alright." Tashigi agreed.

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"Mother! She stopped! I think she found something!" Lyssa shouted, pointing at Emily, who had now stood in front of a large tablet.

Pam smirked and walked over to Emily, "Now, I want you to read this for me."

Emily opened her mouth and read, "Eht cigam of a eurt Almani nac eb tsac yb lamron snamuh. A namuh tsum wollaws a tib fo na Almani's doolb, dna yeht llahs evah lortnoc revo lla eht srewop dna daer eht tneicha egaugnal."

"Translate it, you stupid little girl!" Pam exploded.

"The magic of a true Almani can be cast by normal humans. A human must swallow a bit of an Almani's blood, and they shall have control over all the powers and read the ancient language." Emily translated.

Pam let out a smile, "Oh really? The blood, eh? Well, this makes my job so much easier." Pam took out a dagger and started walking towards Emily, but suddenly stopped.

The spell on Emily was starting to weaken. She blinked her blue-green eyes, shook her head, and asked, "Wha?" Quickly, Pam grabbed Emily's left arm and started to pull. "What are you doing? Let go of my arm!" Emily cried, unsuccessfully trying to escape. Pam kept moving the dagger towards Emily's arm.

Quickly, Pam sliced the arm, lifted it up to her lips, and drank some of the blood coming from the arm. She let Emily go and licked the blood off the dagger. Emily used a sleeve of the robe to stop the bleeding. Pam looked at all the tablets and could suddenly read the language. "Yes! I am invincible!" She shouted, then turned to Bryce, "You can throw her out. I've no use for her now."

"Yes, Lady Pam." Bryce said.

"But Mother, we want Almani powers, too." Lyssa and Sabrina whined.

"You will. I'll give you better powers than she gave me." Pam convinced, "Get rid of her." Pam used her powers to open a new door.

Bryce picked up the still bleeding Emily and walked down a long hallway with Pam behind him. There was an open door at the end of the hallway.

Bryce threw Emily through the door and before she could walk back through the door, Pam closed the door and made it disappear, then Pam and Bryce walked back to the Sacrificing Room.

The hallway Emily was now in was pitch black and cold and none of her powers could bring any warmth or light.

She was alone, the thing she was afraid of being. She shivered and rubbed her hands on her arms and legs for a little bit of warmth, wishing that she had Misao, the circus people, or even one of the pirates to be with her. Tears were rolling down her pale cheeks, but relief overcame her body when she saw a bright light coming towards her, fast.

Emily stood up and took a few timid steps towards the light.

"Emily?" A voice called out.

Without thinking, Emily called back, "I'm here!" Just a second or two later, the light faded and a pair of arms lifted her up in the air. When the light came back, she found herself being held up by Zoro. Robin and Usopp were holding torches.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" Zoro asked, looking at Emily's bleeding arm.

As Chopper bandaged her arm, Emily cried even harder, "Zoro, she has my powers."

"What do you mean?" Zoro asked the freaked out girl in his arms.

"She has Almani powers, too. She has the same powers as me. She just got a boost of energy." Emily explained. Zoro was silent. "We have to destroy her!" Emily told him. She looked at Luffy with her tearful eyes, "Please…"

Luffy nodded, "Then let's go! To the Sacrificing Room!"

"Aye aye, Captain!" Everyone else shouted before following Nami and Emily down to the Sacrificing Room.

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A/N: Well, that's the end of chapter 18. Okay, the math question that the spirit asked is actually a true problem. My Pre-Calculus teacher had that question on a math test as a bonus question, which nobody got right (the symbol for an infinite number looks like an 8 rotated just a bit to the side or knocked over). R/R, but don't flame me please.


	19. Zoro and the Illusion Battle

Ch.19- Zoro and the Illusion Battle

Disclaimer- One Piece isn't mine and most likely never will be.

- - - - - -

"Where's the door?" Zoro asked when Nami and Emily stopped. There were no doors around, just walls.

"The map says that there is a door here." Nami said, pushing on the sealed door, but it didn't budge.

"Well, what do we do now? Pam's on the other side." Chopper asked.

Nobody knew what to do until a soft voice whispered in Emily's ear, "Say 'tneicna rood, raeh ym llac. Nepo pu dna tel su hguorht.'"

Emily jumped and chanted, "Tneicna rood, raeh ym llac. Nepo pu dna tel su hguorht." The door automatically opened. Everybody stared at Emily.

"How did you do that?" Zoro asked.

Emily shrugged, "The spell…it was whispered in my ear." Without saying anything, Zoro and Emily ran through the door. Luffy, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, Robin, and Nicole followed them.

As they ran deeper into the room, they heard laughing, screaming, whining, and complaining, all from a woman and two girls. The noise was loud and annoying and sounded like three dying crows arguing over whose nest belonged to who. And the noise kept getting louder and more annoying.

- - - - - -

"Mother? When are we going to get _our_ Almani powers?" Lyssa complained.

"Yeah, I thought you said that we would soon get our powers." Sabrina agreed.

"It takes time to find the secret in giving you your powers." Pam simply told them.

"Then, why didn't you let us drink the girl's blood? We would have already had our powers." Sabrina asked.

"Because drinking another's blood is disgusting." Pam answered.

"Then why did _you_ do it?" Lyssa asked in annoyance.

Pam paused. She knew why she did it and wouldn't let her daughters and Bryce know and she had no shame in the reason, of course, she wasn't going to let them ruin her plan if they found out. "Because I didn't want my beautiful, smart, talented daughters to be poisoned if the blood was poisoned. The walls will tell me how to give you stronger powers than mine." Pam told them.

It was a lie. Pam knew it was all a lie. Earlier she had read on the ancient tablets that there wasn't any other way to get the powers except for drinking the blood of an alive Almani, which was Emily, and her daughters and Bryce believed every word she said about the powers. How could they not believe it? They couldn't read the writing and she could.

Pam stopped when she heard the sound of footsteps running towards her, Lyssa, Sabrina, and Bryce. She let out a growl of annoyance. She knew who the steps belonged to. "Lyssa! Sabrina! Get out there and fight them!" Pam commanded her daughters.

"Why should we?" Lyssa asked.

"Those pirates are coming up here and what are you going to do if they kill me while I'm reading? They won't let you take the girl's blood." Pam asked.

Lyssa and Sabrina quickly thought about it. She was right. Emily was captured twice and injured by Pam and not one of the pirates was going to let Emily get injured or captured again.

The two ran off. Pam turned to Bryce, "I want you to be in the room outside of this one. Let nobody enter this room."

Bryce bowed, "Yes, Lady Pam." He left the room.

As soon as he was gone, Pam laughed evilly as she continued to read the tablets.

- - - - - -

"Stop right there. We won't let you pass!" Sabrina announced to the Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole.

"Yeah." Lyssa agreed. Both girls took out staffs. Zoro and Luffy started walking up to them.

"Didn't you hear us?" Sabrina shouted. She and Lyssa hit Zoro and Luffy with their staffs. Both males felt a surge of energy fill their bodies as they were hit back to the back of the group.

Everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole took out their weapons. Emily looked at Nami and Zoro's wrists. Their Dark Diamond bracelets were beginning to glow.

"Zoro! Nami! Whatever you do, don't fight with them. If you use all the energy in them, you won't have any to use on Pam!" Emily screamed at Zoro and Nami. Zoro and Nami nodded and put away their weapons.

"We'll take care of these two! Zoro, Nami, and Emily, head towards Pam." Luffy shouted. Zoro, Nami, and Emily nodded and started running.

"Oh no you don't!" Lyssa shouted, raising her staff. Extra hands knocked the staffs from both Lyssa and Sabrina's hands. Zoro and Nami ran through the door.

Emily stopped and turned towards Luffy, "Attack them as hard as you wish, but whatever you do, don't kill them. They are only spoiled, stupid girls who deserve to be punished by the most powerful beings in Almani history!"

Luffy, Robin, Sanji, Chopper, Usopp, and Nicole didn't exactly know what she was saying, but nodded anyway. She seemed to know what she was talking about.

Emily smiled, "Thank you." She then ran after Zoro and Nami.

"Your fight is against us." Sanji told the two girls. Lyssa and Sabrina picked up their staffs.

"We will kill you then go kill that little brat for calling us stupid, spoiled girls." Sabrina shouted.

Luffy smirked, "Bring it on."

- - - - - -

Zoro, Nami, and Emily ran down the hall that separated the room the rest of the pirates were in with the room Bryce was in.

"Are we going the right way?" Zoro asked.

Nami nodded, "We should be. Pam is only two rooms away."

Zoro, Nami, and Emily reached the hallway and entered the room Bryce was in. Bryce was smiling and standing in front of the door leading to the room Pam was in.

"Move." Zoro growled at Bryce.

"Well, it's nice to see you too." Bryce said calmly.

"I said, move." Zoro growled.

"You know what? Our last battle wasn't very fair. So, I suppose I'll challenge you again." Bryce decided.

"Come on, Emily, Nami." Zoro told his partners. He took a step forwards and instantly, a blade was held up against his throat.

"That wasn't an offer." Bryce told Zoro.

Zoro grunted, but nodded. He lifted Misao's bracelet off his wrist and handed it to Emily. "I don't want to get careless and use my energy against him." Zoro told her.

Emily nodded and slipped the bracelet on her left wrist. "Be careful, Zoro." Emily told him. Zoro smiled at her and got his swords out.

Bryce stared at Zoro's swords and let out a bored sigh, "You are one very boring and rude person, Roronoa Zoro. Won't let anybody use their true powers."

"Shut up!" Zoro shouted through the sword in his mouth. He started rushing towards Bryce, reading to strike.

Bryce smirked, raised his arms, and called, "Deep Illusion!" A black barrier covered Zoro and Bryce, blocking out Nami and Emily. Smoke came through the barrier and entered Zoro's body and made him weak. Zoro fell unconscious.

- - - - - -

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy shouted, aiming a fist at Lyssa. Lyssa hit the staff onto his rubber arms before the fist hit her. He felt pain in his arm as it returned to its normal size. "Itai!" Luffy shouted.

"You won't beat us!" Sabrina shouted. Robin used her extra hands to knock out the staffs again.

The girls were pissed, but they kept fighting with their powers. It was useless trying to get their staffs back. Robin's extra hands prevented them from getting the staffs back; of course, it didn't mean that both Lyssa and Sabrina still couldn't try.

Sabrina's power was pretty much useless when being used against Luffy because he honestly didn't care how he looked physically and neither did everybody else.

Lyssa was the one that was actually a challenge. She used her powers to get fatter and fatter, which not only gave her more strength, but blocked off every physical attack aimed at her. It was like she had a special barrier around her, protecting her from all harm. Not one attack hurt her.

"Shit! Now what do we do?" Sanji muttered.

- - - - - -

Zoro wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious, but when he woke up, he was lying in his hammock on the Going Merry. Standing beside him was a crying Emily. She saw that his eyes were open and cried even harder.

"Emily?" Zoro asked, "Are you okay?"

Emily nodded and dried her tears, "I was afraid you were going to never wake up."

"What happened?" Zoro asked, looking around the room. Everything looked like it had before he left for Almania.

"I…don't know. We were walking and you suddenly collapsed." Emily told him.

"How long have I been out?" Zoro asked.

"Five days." Emily answered.

Zoro looked at her, not quite believing what she had told him, "What about Pam? Did we defeat her?"

Emily nervously laughed, "It doesn't matter. She's going to become a great ruler of the world."

Zoro instantly knew that something was wrong. Emily thinking that the woman she had been trying to kill was good? Now, that was definitely wrong. He took a good look at Emily and looked at her wrists. Neither hers nor Misao's bracelets were there. "What happened to your bracelet?" Zoro asked.

"I put it away." Emily answered.

"And Misao's?" Zoro asked.

Emily looked confused, "Who's Misao?"

Zoro was now absolutely sure that something was wrong. He could understand Emily believing that the evil Pam would be a great ruler if Pam forced Emily to believe that. It was normal for anybody if they were tortured in believing something. It happened a lot to different people, but there was no way a person could forget their best friend and sister unless, "You're not Emily."

Emily looked shocked, "What are you talking about? I'm Emily."

Zoro shook his head, "No, you're not. Now where is she?"

"I am Emily. You don't recognize your own slave?" Emily asked.

Zoro quickly took out one of his swords and sliced her. White blood poured out of her body and the body and blood disappeared completely.

At first, Zoro was a little shocked, but got over it when he realized that the Emily in his room was not real. He stepped out of his hammock, placed all three swords against his side and walked out the door of the men's quarters. Now he was starting to get freaked. Instead of being in the lounge, he was on the deck.

He looked around the deck. The mast, bow, and Nami's orange trees were still there, but not one of the Straw Hat Pirates was around, which was surprising because it was daytime and Luffy wasn't even on the bow. Zoro saw a moving shade of green coming from the orange trees. The green walked from the trees and revealed itself to be Emily. She was upset, but not crying.

Zoro walked up to her and placed his hands on her small shoulders, "Emily?"

Emily refused to make eye contact with him, but asked, "Why?"

Zoro was really confused, "Why what?"

Emily looked up at him. Her blue-green eyes had this weird shape in them, a jagged circle and it was moving.

Zoro wanted to question her about it, but decided against it. Kristina had told him that Almani could have unusual things that a normal person wouldn't have physically: Unusually bright eyes, weird eye shapes, moving tattoos, and many more things they wouldn't be able to explain. Emily's eye shapes were most likely an Almani thing she couldn't explain.

"Why don't' you trust me?" Emily asked.

Zoro was taken back by her question. He knew what she was talking about and was positive that she wasn't Emily. "What have you done with her? Where's Emily?" Zoro screamed at the small girl.

The girl pretended to look confused, "You don't recognize me? Your own slave?"

Zoro was really getting annoyed. He sliced this Emily and, like the one before her, she bled white blood and disappeared.

He thought it was all over, but he was wrong. More copies, more Emilys stepped out of the orange trees, behind barrels, and even jumped down from the crow's nest. He didn't count, but he guessed that there was nearly 100 Emilys surrounding him, all looking the exact same. "What the hell are you trying to do, Bryce?" Zoro screamed.

Five Bryces suddenly appeared in front of a few of the Emilys, "I'm using my ultimate attack. You see, I used someone you love and want to protect, so what better person to choose than little Emily. Oh sure, some of these girls are illusions, but I'd be careful with killing them if I were you. One of these girls is actually your little slave."

"You're sick." Zoro shouted.

Bryce smirked, "Maybe. Have fun with these 100 Emilys. I'll be watching."

The five Bryces disappeared, but the 100 Emilys stayed, smiling, frowning, and innocent looking, all staring at him. He had to choose wisely. If he wasn't careful, he could accidentally kill Emily, but how could he find her when there were 99 more of her? Half of the Emilys form all around him smiled and started to chant:

_We are the 100 Emilys  
__The copies you should dread  
__Be careful with the slicing  
__Or the real one will be dead._

Zoro looked from Emily to Emily and muttered, "Oh shit."

- - - - - -

"Dammit! I didn't think a battle like this could take so long." Usopp grunted, firing another Mad Dog Peach Juice bullet at Lyssa.

The huge girl simply ate the bullet as if it was a candy. It was useless anyways to attack her. She either ate or blocked anything he shot at her. Luffy's attacks were useless, too, as were pretty much everyone else's.

The battle against Lyssa and Sabrina had been going on longer than anybody had expected. Sabrina hadn't been attack for her simple attacks were useless now against everyone.

Lyssa had been a barrier, protecting both her and her older sister and started to wear out the Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole. Of course, the attacks were starting to take a toll on Lyssa. She was getting worn out from all the attacks aimed at her.

Nicole noticed her getting tired and asked, "Why don't you just give up?"

"Never! Mother promised to give us Almani powers after we defeated you!" Lyssa screamed.

"You think she's really going to do that? Keep dreaming! She's only going to keep the powers for herself." Chopper shouted.

"She will not! She promised!" Sabrina screamed.

Luffy laughed, "That crazy old granny? Yeah, right. If she wanted to give you powers, she would have already done it."

Lyssa shrunk down to her normal weight because she was tired, but that didn't stop her from wanting to fight.

"Shut up!" She screamed, running towards him with her sister following her. Robin held both girls down before they got to Luffy. Quickly, Chopper shoved needles full of anesthetic in them. The girls were out immediately.

"Well, we promised Emily that we wouldn't kill them." Chopper said.

Sanji leaned their staffs against the walls and with one good, strong kick, broke them in half. There was a fairy in each staff that was more than happy to escape their prison and return to the forest. Chopper grew to his human form and with Robin's help, lifted the unconscious girls onto his shoulders.

"Come on! Let's get Pam!" Luffy shouted, running down the halls. Everyone followed him.

- - - - - -

Pam was looking over the very powerful spells at the time, searching for the ones that would give her infinite powers, but she wasn't alone.

Kristina was not far away from her, working on a machine to prevent Pam from getting the infinite powers_. Let's see, push once, turn clockwise twice, move left three spaces, up four, right five, down six, counter clockwise seven times, then pull twice._ She thought.

Kristina was looking over a large board and crank hidden in the wall behind a large stone. She lifted up the stone and placed a hand on the crank. She pushed it once into the wall, turned it clockwise twice, moved the crank left three spaces, up four spaces, right five spaces, down six spaces, and pulled the crank two spaces out of the wall, then covered it again with the stone.

A large, thick, rocky barrier covered up the spells that gave out infinite power. In a way, she was proud of what she had done, but in a way, she wasn't. She wasn't supposed to know the code or even about the crank, but she did…and it wasn't her fault that she knew. Somebody from royalty before she was even born, carved the code and crank on a wall inside her closet. She found it when she was seven while she was looking for a toy she lost. But, she shook off the thought. When her family was saved, her father would forgive her.

She started walking towards the door when a loud voice called, "Well well well…looks like I caught a little princess."

Kristina paused, remembering that now that Pam had Almani powers, she could see Kristina. Fortunately, Kristina was certain that Pam hadn't seen her block the infinite power spells, so she ran. As she ran, she heard Pam calling, "I don't know what you did, little princess, but I'll find out and punish you."

- - - - - -

Nami and Emily were getting really worried about Zoro. They couldn't see him or what he was doing and didn't know if he was okay or not.

"He's been in there for a while." Nami stated.

"Do you think he's okay?" Emily asked the older girl.

Nami shrugged, "I don't know."

Emily looked into the barrier in front of her and screamed, "ZORO!"

- - - - - -

In his battle, Zoro had gotten rid of most of the Emilys around him. Now there were only ten left. He sensed that Bryce was behind him, but Zoro was more concerned about not killing the right Emily…and he couldn't tell which one it was. He was about to give up when he heard a voice from outside the barrier scream, "ZORO!" repeatedly.

Zoro now knew the truth: there was no real Emily in the barrier. They were all copies. Without wasting time on killing the copies, Zoro quickly turned and attacked Bryce before the illusionist had the chance to attack Zoro from behind. The barrier, copies, and Going Merry disappeared. Zoro found himself standing in front of Nami and the real Emily. Bryce was lying on the ground a few feet to his left, bleeding severely.

"Zoro!" Emily cried, running up to him. She threw her arms around his waist, "I was afraid you were going to die!"

Zoro hugged her back and looked at Nami, "How long have I been fighting?"

"About 20 minutes." Nami answered.

Zoro took a look at Emily's wrists and saw both hers and Misao's bracelets.

"You didn't forget Misao, right?" Zoro asked.

Emily looked confused, "How could I forget my best friend and sister?" Now he knew this was the true Emily.

Bryce let out a few coughs of blood, "H-how c-could you s-save…t-the...l-life of…a s-simple…s-slave?"

Zoro held Bryce up by the collar of his shirt and growled, "She is not my slave! She is my sister! Got that?"

"H-hai…your s-sister." Bryce muttered before his life ended.

Zoro dropped Bryce's body, not caring if a few bones broke when the body hit the ground.

"Zoro! Nami! Emily!" Luffy shouted, running into the room. Luffy stopped when he saw Bryce's body in a pool of blood, "What happened?"

"This son of a bitch was trying to kill me in a fight, but I was the one that killed him." Zoro answered.

"Where's Pam?" Robin asked.

"She's in the next room! We have to hurry before she finds the really powerful spells!" Emily shouted. The Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole started running to wards the door when Kristina ran into them breathless. "Kristina? What's wrong?" Emily asked.

It took ten seconds for Kristina to catch her breath before she answered, "It's Pam…she's found the really powerful spells."

- - - - - -

A/N: Okay, that's chapter 19. Sorry it took me a while to get this chapter written, but I was working all month on my story "Christmas Memories" and for Christmas I got 4 One Piece box sets and spent days watching all the episodes. Now I have up to episode 206 and if you think that Crocodile is a bastard, you don't know bastards until you meet Ener. Now THAT is a bastard. R/R if you want and send me ideas if you got any.


	20. The Final Showdown

Ch.20-The Final Showdown

Disclaimer-One Piece isn't mine, okay?

- - - - - -

"What do you mean?" Emily asked the partially breathless spirit.

"I mean, Pam found the really powerful spells and is starting to cast them." Kristina answered.

"You're kidding…" Emily gasped.

Kristina roughly shook her head, "No, I'm not. I saw everything she did, including hearing her plan on using all the powers for herself to take over the world."

"We have to stop her!" Emily cried.

Quickly, she ran passed Kristina with the rest of her group. They ran for not more than fifteen seconds when the room got darker than it was before even though the flames from the torches had not gotten dimmer. The rooms started shaking violently, so violently that the entire group fell off their feet and loud chanting came from the room Pam was in.

"Oh my God…we're too late…" Nicole gasped.

- - - - - -

Pam had found the most powerful spells that she could find as Kristina was busy warning the Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole about her. She was extremely disappointed because she was unable to find the spells that could give one infinite powers that she knew was there, but she was unable to find spells to give her enough powers to take over the world and the pirates.

"I call up on the powers of the knights of the Almanian Gods. Brave and powerful warriors, hear my call. Of all your powers, give me all!" Pam chanted loudly in the ancient Almanian language. Suddenly, she felt a surge of energy enter her body. Within a few seconds, she felt power that she never felt before…and she liked it.

Pam was now able to cast any spell without chanting it. All she had to do was snap her fingers and the spell was cast. An evil laugh escaped from her mouth and with the snap of a finger, Pam was standing on the large platform used for sacrificing. The platform began to rise up to the top of the castle, causing the entire castle to shake violently and for each floor she rose, the evil woman got bigger and bigger.

- - - - - -

The Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole regained their balance as soon as the shaking lightened. Not one of them bothered to enter the room Pam was originally in for they had a feeling that she was no longer inside of the castle. They all ran outside of the entire castle, up many flights of stairs (they ignored the elevator) and into the dark outside.

A large, very large Pam was standing six feet above the castle, smirking at everything below her: the people, animals, and magic creatures, as they stared at her in confusion and fear. With a quick laugh, Pam snapped her fingers and many different lightening bolts fell from the sky and hit the ground. The fairies screamed.

- - - - - -

From inside Pam's ship, the screams were easily heard. The ship shook violently as each lightening bolt struck the forest floor.

Kim, Kelly, and Ryan were slammed into the walls repeatedly. With the help of Mark, Matt, Stacey, and the other Marines, Kim, Kelly, and Ryan were able to make it out of the ship and onto the Almanian ground.

"Oh my God! What is that thing?" Ryan asked, pointing at Pam.

"It's her! She must have gained powers to help her take over the world!" Stacey screamed.

Matt looked over at Mark, "Why the Hell didn't you tell us this would happen?"

"Because I can't see the future! I'm not psychic, you idiot!" Mark shouted at him.

"Hey, you guys are magic creatures. Can't you do anything to stop her?" Kelly asked Mark, Matt, and Stacey. The three shook their heads.

"She has the powers of an Almani and none of us has any powers stronger than that." Stacey answered.

"Hey, look! It's Emily!" Kim shouted, pointing at the emerald haired girl in front of her.

"Emily!" Ryan shouted, running towards her. Kim and Kelly followed him.

Emily turned her gaze from Pam to the three Marines and said emotionlessly, "Don't come any closer."

Kim, Kelly, and Ryan immediately stopped. They couldn't explain why, but they had a feeling that only she knew how to defeat Pam and wanted no interruptions when doing so.

Kristina handed Emily her flute, "Pam does not have any infinite powers, but don't underestimate her. If you aren't careful, she can quickly kill you. Use the Dark Diamond Bracelets and your flute if you have to and…good luck."

Emily smiled, "Thank you." Emily handed Zoro Misao's bracelet.

As soon as the man slipped the bracelet over his wrist, Emily closed her eyes and chanted, "I llac nopu eht stirips fo ym tneicna Almani srotsecna. Dnel ruoy sgniw ot Oroz dna Iman ot pleh taefed eht ymene gnikcatta Almania!"

A light covered her, Zoro, and Nami. Two sets of wings came out of Zoro and Nami's backs. Emily made her wings come out. The three flew up into the air and in front of the large Pam.

Pam's large head was about the height of Zoro's body, her eyes much larger than his head. The look she gave Zoro, Nami, and Emily was frightening. She smirked at them, but didn't move. Her body started to shake as if she was about to have a seizure and a huge laugh escaped her body.

Zoro, Nami, and Emily were blown back a few feet from the sickening breath of the large woman.

"Ha ha ha! You three actually think you can defeat me? Dream on!" Pam laughed. With a snap, Pam casted a powerful wind spell against the three in the sky. As Emily, Zoro, and Nami were being blown around, Pam was too.

Even after the wind spell was over, Pam was moving around like a bolt of lightening. Zoro, Nami, and Emily focused their energy on their Dark Diamond Bracelets, but had a huge problem. Although they were able to get their energy into their bracelets, their target was moving around so quickly that they were unable to get her if they tried.

"Dammit! She's too fast!" Zoro grunted, struggling to keep Pam as a target. Pam kept laughing and jumping from place to place.

"What are we going to do?" Emily asked. Though she too was an Almani, she never seen such fast power and didn't know how to defend herself and her friends.

Suddenly, Pam stopped moving around. She snapped her fingers and instantly, three bubbles covered Zoro, Nami, and Emily. The bubbles started filling up with water. Nami and Emily banged their fists against the walls while Zoro tried slicing the walls, but none of them had any effect.

Soon, none of the three were able to get any air from inside their bubbles.

"Nami-san!" Sanji screamed.

"Nami! Emily! Zoro!" Luffy screamed.

Emily looked down at the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates, Nicole, and Kristina, with an apologetic look on her face. Slowly, the girl closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate.

As she closed her eyes, Emily heard a woman singing a song with the most beautiful voice she had ever heard before. Without opening her eyes, Emily saw a green haired woman singing the song to a small emerald haired baby girl: Lilie and Emily. Through the water, Lilie's lullaby was so clear and enchanting that Emily thought she had died and met her mother.

A light, tingling feeling filled her body, telling Emily that she was still alive. Emily opened her blue-green eyes. She saw Zoro and Nami struggling to get at least a tiny bit of air from the water-filled bubbles. She looked down at the flute in her left hand. The flute may help her, if she would have to strength to play it.

She lifted the flute up to her lips and played the lullaby she heard Lilie singing to her. For each note she played, the bubble she was in got larger and larger before it completely exploded, but she didn't stop. She kept on playing the lullaby until the bubbles around Zoro and Nami exploded.

Zoro and Nami gasped for air while Pam again started to jump around from place to place.

"Oh no. She's doing it again." Nami sighed, "What are we going to do?" Zoro shrugged.

Emily almost did, but her mother's lullaby kept playing in her head. _Why does this song keep playing in my head? What does it mean?_ Emily wondered.

"Emily! Look out!" Kelly screamed from the ground.

Before Emily could move, Pam hit her with a strong, invisible force. Losing control of her wings, Emily hit a large stone wall. Her back slammed into the wall and her hair ribbon flew off of her head and into her hands. Wincing in pain, Emily looked over the back of her ribbon, where the notes were sewn and gasped, "Mother's lullaby…Mama sewed in on here when I was little. This lullaby…it has to be a key in defeating Pam."

Emily tied the ribbon back into her hair and flew back up to Zoro and Nami, ignoring the calls of the people below asking if she was okay.

"Are you okay, Emily?" Zoro asked.

Emily nodded, "Yeah. I'll be fine. I think I know a way to slow her down."

"How?" Nami asked, "She's moving so fast I can't even tell where she is now."

"Trust me." Emily told her. Both Nami and Zoro nodded. "Please make this work." Emily whispered, placing her flute once again to her lips. Taking a deep breath, Emily began to play Lilie's lullaby, this time, clearer and more beautiful than she did from inside the bubble she was imprisoned in. Pam was not affected by the melody, but something else sure was.

The barrier from the river leading to the sea was suddenly shattered. The sea breeze was rougher than it ever had been before, seagulls flew in, dropping shells onto the large woman, slowing her down, but not enough. But, that wasn't all that was attacking the evil woman. Umiryuu and a few of his sea friends swam into Almania for the first time in fifteen years.

The creatures from the sea carried mud from down on the ocean floor, where it was very thick and strong. Emily kept playing the melody and the creatures quickly hurled the mud at the woman's feet all the way up to her waist when she landed on the castle roof.

Pam was now moving very slowly for only the infinite powers of the Almani, if she had them, could have easily removed the thick mud from her body. Dolphins from the sea were carried up to Pam's large body along with whales by large flying birds. Water was spouted into Pam's eyes, blinding the woman.

"Zoro! Nami! NOW!" Emily shouted, removing her lips from her flute, "Focus all your energy in your bracelets!" In an instant, Zoro, Nami, and Emily's bracelets started to glow brighter than they ever had. Emily moved in between them and stuck out her right arm, the one with her bracelet out in front of her.

"What do we do now?" Zoro asked her.

"Imagine your bracelets as a weapon!" Emily shouted.

The three flying in the sky closed their eyes and imagined the energy of the Dark Diamond Bracelets merging together to make an invincible sword of energy that would be able to slice through anything in the world.

Zoro, Nami, and Emily opened their eyes and, just like they had imagined, there was a large, golden sword of energy from the Dark Diamond Bracelets on their wrists. By now, Pam was able to see and was NOT happy at the new weapon she saw.

Snapping her fingers, Pam sent a fireball five times the height of Zoro at them. Normally, the fireball would have burned Zoro, Nami, and Emily to a crisp, but they had their new weapon. Zoro, Nami, and Emily swung their sword and sliced through the fireball. The fireball was sucked into the sword.

Zoro, Nami, and Emily flew up to Pam and with a quick swing, stabbed Pam right into her evil heart.

The woman screamed as she felt the pain of fire and energy fill her body. Finally, the screaming stopped and she felt no more. Pam's large body shrank back down to its normal size and sank down into the mud.

"Is…she dead?" Emily asked nervously, not letting her guard down. Zoro and Nami didn't answer. The sun dried up all the mud covering Pam. The mud cracked and shattered onto the castle roof. A soft breeze blew the dried mud off the castle roof and onto the forest floor. And laying on the castle roof was an unmoving Pam in a large pool of blood. Zoro nodded.

"We did it!" Emily screamed, flying around in the air. Everybody on the forest floor: the pirates, Marines, and all the magical creatures started cheering.

Nami turned to Emily, "Emily? How long is this flying spell supposed to last?"

Emily paused, "Uhhh…"

The wings suddenly disappeared off of Zoro and Nami's backs and the two started falling towards the ground. Emily still had her wings and tried to pull them back up into the air, but was unsuccessful.

Emily's wings disappeared and she fell towards the ground with Zoro and Nami, screaming in fear.

Quickly, Luffy sucked up a bunch of air and shouted, "Gomu Gomu no Balloon!" His body became a large balloon that caught Zoro, Emily, and Nami before they hit the ground. Unfortunately, because Luffy was rubber, Zoro, Emily, and Nami bounced off his body and back into the air.

Every one of the Straw Hat Pirates was running around, attempting to catch one of the three that was flying through the air. Only two of the three was caught.

Sanji was lucky and caught Nami in his arms before she hit the ground. Zoro fell down to the ground, catching Emily as she fell on top of him.

"Are you okay, Zoro?" Emily asked, getting off of the man's body.

Zoro winced in pain, sat up, and nodded, "I'm okay."

"You actually got rid of Pam?" Usopp asked Emily.

Emily nodded and looked around. Every animal that came from the sea was gone and Lilie's lullaby was being played from the sea.

The sound was faint, but Emily could hear it perfectly. The Straw Hat Pirates, Marines, Nicole, and all the magical creatures in Almania could hear it, too. _This song…could it be the Melody of the Seas? _Emily wondered. She thought deeply and remembered reading an entry from her mother's diary about the Melody of the Seas:

_"The Melody of the Seas is an ancient melody that allows the person playing it to bring anything in the sea to his or her own aide or can make a dozen sea creatures dance on the waves and makes the sea play the same melody. It's only a legend, but Almani have been trying for 500 years to find the melody and none have been successful."_

"I…I did it." Emily whispered.

"What did you say, Emily?" Chopper asked her.

"I found it. I found the Melody of the Seas." Emily gasped.

Quickly, before anybody could say anything else, Emily ran into the castle while calling for Chopper (who was still carrying Lyssa and Sabrina) to follow her.

Not only did Chopper follow her, but so the did pirates, Nicole, and the Marines. Emily didn't explain what she was going to be doing until she stepped in front of a long mirror on the second floor.

"I'm going to speak with the Almani gods…and I'm taking Lyssa and Sabrina with me. The gods will pick a suitable punishment for them. I want you all to wait here when I get back." Emily announced.

"Emily…" Zoro said.

Emily stared at him, "Please, Zoro! This is something I have to do alone."

Zoro hesitated, but nodded, "Okay."

"How do you know how to speak with the gods of your people?" Robin asked her.

"When Pam kept me prisoner, I read a tablet talking about them and how to meet with them." Emily answered.

Then she put her right hand on the mirror and chanted, "Nepo eht rood ot eht Almani sdog." A light shined from the mirror, waking up Lyssa and Sabrina, who were now on the floor.

"Good luck, Emily." Chopper whispered before giving Emily, Lyssa, and Sabrina hard shoves through the mirror. The door then closed.

Now Emily, Lyssa, and Sabrina stood in a dark room, in front of seven people, men and women wearing masks to cover their faces.

"We have been watching you, Emerald Emily and we must say that we are quite impressed with all the things you have done." The gods announced.

"I…I have a few questions for you." Emily said to them.

The tallest god nodded, "Let us hear them."

Emily took a deep breath, "I ask you all if you may punish these two." Emily pointed at Lyssa and Sabrina.

The god nodded his head, "We will do that."

The gods looked at each other and chanted, "We, the Almani gods banish the two wrong-doers to the Black World for all eternity."

A dark purple light covered Lyssa and Sabrina. The girls screamed, cried, and begged the gods not to send them to a new and possibly scary world for all eternity, but the gods ignored their pleas and sent the girls to the world. Lyssa and Sabrina were gone immediately.

"What else do you have to ask us?" Another god asked.

Emily hesitated for a moment, but after remembering her promise, she asked, "Is there any way you can free the Almani trapped in the bubbles?" The gods stared at each other. The seven of them huddled together and started whispering.

Emily waited for nearly ten minutes before the god's discussion ended. All seven of them turned towards the small girl.

The oldest one cleared his throat, "We will do more than that. Because they were killed so unfairly, we will resurrect every single one that died during the attack, even Kristina."

Emily's eyes widened, "You will? Will the resurrected ones look any different than they did before they died?"

The god shook his head, "No, they will be the same age and look the same. They'd just look like they had been frozen in time within the last fifteen years."

Emily smiled widely, "Thank you so much."

"However," another god interrupted, "We are unable to resurrect your family."

"Why not?" Emily asked.

"Your family left the forest and for that we can't bring them back to life." The god answered.

"And besides," another added, "their bones were used in a potion and we can't bring them back." Emily nodded and asked the gods more questions:

"Why aren't the Almani allowed to leave the forest?"

"They are allowed to leave."

"What do you mean?"

"The Almani have been allowed to leave the forest for hundreds of years. They just don't know it. If they leave, we can't resurrect them."

"Will you still watch over them?"

"Always."

"Do you know any more powers than the ones in the sacrificing room?"

"We do."

"Will you let the other Almani know them?"

"If we find someone that can handle the powers, then 'yes'."

Before Emily could ask another question, a deep voice called, "Emily!"

Emily jumped, "It's Zoro…"

One of the gods smiled, "Go on home, Emily…"

Emily stared at the god, "But I have so many more questions to ask."

The god placed her hands on Emily's shoulders, "All your questions will be answered in time. Now, go home to your family. And remember: we will always watch over you, even if you leave."

Emily smiled and nodded. "Sayonara." She softly called, stepping through the mirror.

"What's wrong, Emily?" Zoro asked the small girl.

"I kept my promise." Emily answered. She looked around the room and saw that the Marines were gone. Before she could ask where they were, the ground started shaking and a light filled the sky. When the shaking stopped, the Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole ran to the windows.

The light was still there, so they couldn't see what was going on outside, but they knew it had to be big. When the light was gone, everyone knew something weird happened. The bubbles were gone, there weren't any graves, and PEOPLE were walking around outside.

"Excuse me? Are you lost?" A familiar voice asked from behind them.

The group turned around at the voice. Emily let out a gasp, "Oh my God…it's you…"

- - - - - -

A/N: Okay, that was the 20th chapter. I hoped you liked it. R/R if you want, but don't flame me if ya hate it.

Oh, and here are some of my Almani translations:

I llac nopu eht stirips fo ym tneicna Almani srotsecna. Dnel ruoy sgniw ot Oroz dna Iman ot pleh taefed eht ymene gnikcatta Almania _I call upon the spirits of my ancient Almani ancestors. Lend your wings to Zoro and Nami to help defeat the enemy attacking Almania._

Nepo eht rood ot eht Almani sdog _Open the door to the Almani Gods_

A/N: Remember, if you have any ideas, send them to me.


	21. The Celebration

Ch. 21- The Celebration

Disclaimer: One Piece, it ain't mine.

- - - - - -

"Oh my God…it's you…" Emily gasped, staring at the figure in front of her.

The figure smiled, "Yes, it's me."

"K-kristina? Does this mean that you're…alive?" Emily asked.

Kristina nodded, "Yes, everybody in the attack 15 years ago was resurrected. Thank you so much, Emily." Emily smiled and nodded.

Usopp wasn't convinced that she was actually alive, "Prove to us that you aren't still dead."

Kristina smirked, raised her hand, and called, "Ice Spear!" A spear of ice hit him in his left arm. "That enough proof for you?" Kristina asked. Usopp quickly nodded.

Emily giggled for a moment, then with a straight face asked, "What happened to Kim, Kelly, and Ryan?"

"Dad is talking with the Marines in the counseling room down the hall. They've been talking for nearly half an hour."

"Half an hour? But your bodies were just resurrected." Nicole exclaimed.

Kristina shook her head, "Actually, we weren't. I guess while Emily was talking with the gods, we were resurrected. The Marines left and met up with Dad a half hour ago."

"Thanks!" Emily called, running down the hall.

Before she even got to the room, a girl inches taller than Emily banged into her. Both girls fell to the ground.

"Itai! Hey! Watch where you're going! This is a castle! Have some respect!" the girl shouted.

"I'm so sorry. I was just in a hurry to get to the counseling room to talk with the Marines." Emily apologized.

The girl stared at her, "It's too late. They just left. They said that they were going back to the 'base', whatever that is."

"Oh no!" Emily cried. She quickly drew her wings and flew out the nearest window and into the forest that led towards the direction of the Marine's ship. Finally, Emily saw Kim, Kelly, and Ryan. They were alone.

Emily lowered herself onto the ground, "Kim, Kelly, Ryan!" The three Marines turned around.

"Emily? What are you doing here?" Kim asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Emily answered.

"Well, we don't have anything else to do, so we're going back." Ryan answered.

"Plus, some of the other Marines were getting freaked out by some of the creatures here in Almania." Kelly added.

"Oh, and the Marines would like to thank you for defeating Pam, but we are taking her body back to the base to collect the reward." Ryan said to Emily.

"WHAT?" Emily nearly shouted.

"You heard me. Besides, I was promised part of the reward and I really could use money ever since the contest in Nanahana." Ryan said to her.

"Hey, I won that contest fair and square. It's not my fault that you got second place."

"Well…I won't lose to you next time. Next time we meet, I will challenge you and I will win."

Emily laughed.

"Keep dreaming, Ryan. I'll always be better than you."

"I don't think so, little girl."

Emily paused for a moment.

"Hey Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm…really sorry about what I did to you back in Kupeviru."

"Eh, it's okay…I guess. It wasn't your fault. I'm sorry for making fun of you because you are an Almani Pirate-slave."

"I'm not a slave anymore."

"What?"

"I was freed months ago."

"By the way, we might be taking you off the WANTED list."

"Why?"

"Because it wasn't your fault that I almost died."

"Okay, do what you want."

"Fine. I will."

"Fine."

Kim and Kelly giggled. They always thought that it was funny when Ryan got into little "arguments" with other people. When their giggling stopped, they turned their gazes at Emily.

"Hey Emily…even though we are Marines…" Kim started.

"We can still be friends, right?" Kelly finished.

Emily giggled, "Right."

Kim, Kelly, and Emily gave each other a hug good-bye.

Ryan didn't want to hug Emily, but Emily clung herself onto him and gave him a tight squeeze. As hard as Ryan tried, he could not get Emily to let go of him. "If I hug you back, will you promise to let go of me?" Ryan asked the girl clinging tightly to his body.

Emily smiled at him and nodded. Ryan let out a little sigh, put his arms around her body, and gave her a soft hug.

Emily kept her arms around Ryan until a woman's voice from behind Ryan shouted, "Glory Ryan! Stop hugging your little pirate girlfriend and get back to the ship!" Ryan jumped and both him and Emily let go of each other.

Slowly, Ryan turned around and stared into the angry face of his cousin, "Tashigi, it's not what it looks like…"

Emily giggled, waved good-bye to Kim, Kelly, and Ryan, and called, "Thank you so much for everything you've done for me. I'll see you some other time. And Ryan, when we next meet we will have another competition. Sayonara!" she then ran back to the castle. Kim, Kelly, Ryan, and Tashigi stared at her for a minute before walking back to the ship.

"I can't believe she did that!" Ryan complained.

- - - - - -

Emily made it to the castle a minute later. She met the rest of the pirates and Nicole outside of the counseling room. She explained what she had done with the Marines and was led inside the counseling room to meet with the King of Almania. Standing by his side were his two daughters: Kristina and the girl Emily ran into earlier.

"So, you are the one that killed the evil woman who tried to destroy our race fifteen years ago?" the king asked with a straight face.

Emily was actually afraid to answer at first, because she was afraid he'd do something to her if she said that she did. Zoro gave her a nudge in her back, making her jump and nod her head.

A smile formed on the King's face. The man walked up to Emily and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Then I would like to thank you for that." He then looked at the girls beside him.

The girls bowed their heads, "We would also like to thank you for saving our city. Now, thanks to you, we have the chance to become rulers."

Their father shot an annoyed glare at them, stating that something they said was wrong, most likely the sentence about them having the chance to become rulers. But because of that second sentence, Emily was able to realize that the girl she bumped into was actually Princess Melissa, Kristina's younger sister.

Before he could yell at the two of them, Emily announced, "Your majesty. I think I found _the Melody of the Seas_."

The king stared at her.

"It's true, Dad. I heard the song and saw it help to defeat Pam." Kristina said to her father, backing Emily up.

The king stared at Emily for a little bit longer before he walked towards the stairs, "Come with me." Emily, Kristina, Melissa, Nicole, and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates followed him out of the castle and in front of the sea. "I want you to play the song." The king demanded.

Emily hesitated, but nodded. She lifted her flute up to her lips and began to play Lilie's lullaby.

As each note echoed through the sea, the creatures living within the ocean began to move around in a way they had never done before. The dolphins dove in and out of the sea in unison, the whales spouted water from their blowholes, the sea dragons lifted the whales up into the sky so the water would spout towards the sun, creating a small rainbow around Almania.

"Ooh! Kirei…" Melissa gasped, staring at the large rainbow.

When Emily took her flute away from her lips, the melody was repeated through the sea even after the animals stopped dancing.

The king looked at Emily, his eyes wide with shock, "For the first time in 500 years…the Melody of the Seas has been found."

Emily blushed, "I never knew that my mother could make up a song so powerful…"

The king smiled at her, "The Melody of the Seas is not only a song, but the person that can play the song. There is only one Melody of the Seas."

"Y-you mean?" Emily asked. The king nodded, "You are the Melody of the Seas."

Emily looked at Kristina, "You didn't' tell me that the Melody of the Seas is a person."

Kristina shrugged, "I never knew. I only knew that it was a song and what it did."

"Wow…" Emily gasped.

The room was silent for nearly five minutes before Melissa broke the silence, "So, are you all going to stay for the celebration?"

"Celebration?" Nami asked.

Kristina nodded, "Yeah. Everyone in Almania is going to have a celebration in honor of Pam's defeat and our resurrection. We'll have games, food, and contests. Please say you'll stay."

The Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole stared at each other then at Luffy. Of course, the captain didn't turn down the offer when he heard that food was involved.

The king smiled at them, "Excellent. I'll have the girls show you to your rooms." He looked at his two daughters.

The girls nodded and started leading the pirates and Nicole down the hallways of the large castle, towards two large rooms: one for the men and boys, the other for the women and girls.

Melissa led the men to the larger of the two rooms. The room had five very large beds, five drawers, four bookshelves, two windows, and absolutely no dust.

"Whoa…" Luffy gasped.

"This is your room. Hope ya like it." Melissa announced before running down the hall. The five males shrugged and laid on their own beds to take a little nap.

Kristina led Nami, Robin, Emily, and Nicole to the smaller of the two rooms. This room had four large beds, two closets, two bookshelves, one window, no dust, and a little table with a vase of roses.

Robin placed a finger on one of the roses. The rose was frozen, yet dry and fresh, not plastic.

"These roses?" Robin asked.

"Oh. They're real roses. They've been in this room for nearly 23 years. My mother taught me how to keep things fresh, frozen, and dry by using a fire and ice spell." Kristina explained.

"Wow…" Nicole gasped.

Kristina giggled, "Well, I've gotta go now. If you need anything, then ask anyone here in the castle." Then she ran off. The four in the room looked at each other, shrugged, and laid on their beds to take a well deserved nap.

- - - - - -

The Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole woke up from their naps about three hours later. The nine of them looked out the guest room windows. The ground was filled with Almani and other creatures setting booths up and cooking foods. The nine of them walked out of their room and took the elevator down to the first floor.

The doorway to the front exit was blocked by two boys aged seventeen and fifteen and Kristina. A large slain animal was behind the boys.

"Hey Kristina! Check out what we caught in the deep forest." The elder announced.

Kristina stared at the animal, "Holy crap! Joshua! Andrew! How could you kill anything that big? It's almost as big as the door!"

Joshua (the elder) smirked, "We used our powers."

"Yeah." Andrew agreed.

"Wow…I didn't think you were paying attention in class." Kristina told them.

"And to think you called us stupid dumbasses." Joshua stated.

Kristina shook her head, "I didn't call you stupid dumbasses. I called you lazy dumbasses."

"That's the same thing!" Andrew shouted.

"No, it's not. I called you lazy and a dumbass." Kristina pointed out.

"Okay, so where should we put this thing?" Joshua asked.

"Try putting it in Golden Town. All the cooks are there. You need some help carrying it there?" Kristina asked.

"You think you can carry this huge thing?" Andrew laughed.

Kristina pointed at the animal and shouted, "Gravity!" The animal was lifted into the air. She turned to her cousins, "Walk to Golden Town and point at a table and the animal will land on it." Joshua and Andrew nodded and left.

Emily walked up to Kristina, "What was that?"

"My cousins killed a large boar in the deepest forest of Almania." Kristina answered.

"Wow…is that for the celebration?" Luffy asked, his mouth watering.

"Yeah, some of it. There's going to be more food when the celebration starts. There's even going to be a food eating contest later on tonight. You going to be in it?" Kristina asked. Luffy nodded. Kristina looked at everyone else, "You know, you don't have to stay in the castle until the celebration. You can walk around Almania also." The pirates and Nicole nodded and left the castle.

- - - - - -

Sanji, Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and Emily walked inside Golden Town. They all had to hold Luffy back to keep him from eating the VERY large amounts of meat sitting on tables, waiting to be cooked.

"Niku…" Luffy whined, unsuccessfully struggling out of his crew's hands.

"That meat is for the celebration. You have to wait." Nami said to him as if he was a little child.

"Niku…" Luffy whined.

"Hey Luffy. Why don't you go hang out with the fairies or something. It'll help keep your mind off the meat." Emily suggested.

Luffy, still groaning, decided to take her suggestion and walked off to Opal Town to see some of the fairies, sprites, and sirens.

Sanji pulled up his sleeves and walked to all the cooks to offer his assistance. None of the cooks turned down his offer.

Nami walked to the many booths to see what was being sold while Zoro and Emily went to chat with the Almani taking a break.

Chopper was in Ruby Town, chatting with a few of the dragons that lived there…that and picked a few medicinal herbs that he'd never seen before.

Robin and Nicole had been there earlier, too. But Nicole left for the ship to pick up Molly and bring her to the celebration while Robin left for Sapphire Town to find out a bit more of the history of Almania. Usopp also used to be there, but went to Opal town to tell his stories to the magical creatures.

- - - - - -

Three hours had passed when a loud foghorn went off. As if on instinct, every person and living thing in Almania went to Golden Town and stopped in front of the Almani King.

"I am proud to once again be around to rule this wonderful city, although it has been fifteen years since the evil Pam, who now is dead thanks to these brave pirates." The king announced, pointing a finger at the Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole. The Almani and creatures cheered.

The King's announcements went on, "And I'm happy to announce that after 500 years, the Melody of the Seas has been found: Twelve-year-old Emerald Emily, the daughter of a pair of Almani that escaped 20 years ago. And, as a request of my eldest daughter, I will eliminate the law of the Almani not being allowed to leave the forest. From now on, every Almani and creature will be allowed to leave Almania and return whenever they please!" Everybody cheered.

"All Hail, King Glen!" the Almani shouted.

"Now, on with the celebration!" King Glen announced.

Instantly, the booths, tables, and games were filled with creatures and people. Luffy sat down at a table next to nine other men and boys, one being Joshua, for the food eating contest. Before the contest began, Joshua had pointed out that he won the contest every celebration ever since he was five-years-old and wasn't going to lose now.

Food was placed on the tables and on the opposite side of the table stood Kristina and her good friend, Stephanie. In between the two girls sat a stool with an extra large banana sitting on it.

Before Luffy could reach for the banana, it started to peel by itself and a face appeared on the inside of the banana, "Hello everyone."

Luffy screamed and jumped up in his seat after hearing the banana speak.

"Ah, Luffy. I see you haven't met Robert the Talking Banana." Kristina told him.

"There are bananas that talk?" Luffy asked.

"We also got apples, oranges, daikon, and lettuce that talk." Kristina explained.

"WHAT?" Luffy shouted.

Stephanie stared at him and asked, "You don't have any of that outside of Almania?" Luffy shook his head.

Kristina sweat dropped, "Well, anyway…welcome to the food-eating contest. The referees of this contest are me and Stephanie. Okay, before the contest starts, these are the rules:

1) Everybody gets equal portions of food. The point of the contest is to eat as much as you can until you can eat no more. The last man standing is the winner.

2) Water will be served to help you wash down your food.

3) If you make a mess by shoving half eaten food into another competitor's plate or space on the table, then you will be disqualified.

4) If you kick someone in the stomach from under the table or touch any of the competitors or do something to their food to make them vomit, you not only will be disqualified, but you have to clean up the vomit.

5) Everything else, except for the use of magic powers, is allowed.

Any questions?"

"Yeah. What do we get if we win?" one of the men asked.

"The winner gets to be a knight of the Royal Family." Stephanie answered.

"Or if Luffy wins…well, we'll find something." Kristina added.

"I want a talking fruit!" Luffy shouted. Kristina and Stephanie looked at each other then at Luffy.

"We'll try and arrange that." Kristina said, "Any other questions?" Nobody said anything.

"Okay, when the banana gets lighted, then the contest will start." Kristina announced.

"Wait, what?" Robert shouted.

Kristina smirked, "Get ready Stephanie. On your mark, get set…"

Instead of her yelling "Go!", Stephanie shot a fireball at Robert. In an instant, the large banana was on fire and ran from the stool. Stephanie laughed and ran after him, throwing more fireballs at him. The contest started.

- - - - - -

Sanji was now standing in front of a booth selling jewelry that looked extremely exquisite and expensive. All of them were beautiful, but there was one that he liked the best and planned on buying it for Nami, who was currently at one of the game booths. The man selling the jewels explained that the thing Sanji wanted costed 150,000 "rupees".

Sanji was confused, "How much would that be in berries?"

The man smiled, "1,500 berries. Our currency in Almania is rupees, but we also take berries. One berry is 100 rupees." Sanji dug into his pocket and pulled out 2,000 berries and handed them to the man.

The man put what Sanji wanted in a little white box and asked, "Would you like me to exchange your 500 extra berries into 50,000 rupees?" Sanji nodded. The man handed Sanji the box and 50,000 rupees. Sanji then headed for Nami.

- - - - - -

Usopp, Chopper, Nicole, and Molly were all seated in front of the large bonfire in the middle of Golden Town. Nicole and Molly were both eating helpings of rice, sushi, and cooked meat from the boar Joshua and Andrew killed. Usopp was telling some more of his stories to some young magic creatures, Melissa, and Chopper, all of whom believed him.

"And with my great strength, I pulled the sword out of the stone and destroyed the enemies attacking my village." Usopp announced proudly.

"Wow…" the group listening to him gasped, not knowing that it was a lie.

"I was asked to be the king of the East Blue, but I turned the offer down so I could continue being a brave pirate." Usopp finished.

"Ahhh…"the fairies, sprites, and Melissa gasped, "Tell us more." Usopp grinned. These kids were so easy to fool.

- - - - - -

Back at the food eating contest, the original ten contestants were now brought down to two: Joshua and Luffy. Both men had eaten five times as much as the other contestants had, although two were disqualified for cheating. The contest went on for nearly ten more minutes until Joshua found that he couldn't eat anymore, but Luffy kept eating.

"We have a winner! For the first time in years, we have a new winner. The winner: Monkey D. Luffy!" Kristina announced. The competitors that lost clapped.

"Where's my talking fruit?" Luffy demanded.

"You'll get it later. Until then, go enjoy the celebration by playing some games or something." Kristina told him.

A boy with dark hair suddenly ran up holding a bottle of water. He placed the bottle in Kristina's hands, whispered something in her ear, then walked away.

"Okay, I gotta go now. All the leftovers are yours for the taking. See ya later!" Kristina told the men and boys. She brought out her wings and flew off.

Everyone but Joshua and Luffy left the table. The two that stayed ate the leftovers untouched by the ones that left.

- - - - - -

Zoro, Robin, and Emily were sitting by the bonfire, drinking and listening to the sirens sing. For the first time in her life, Emily took a sip of wine, although she wasn't sure if she liked the taste of it or not. She liked the conversation she had with Zoro and Robin more than she liked the wine she drank.

Suddenly, in the middle of her conversation, a figure grabbed Emily's shoulders from behind. The girl screamed and accidentally tossed her drink into the fire. The fire grew red and the flames grew larger. Seven seconds later, the bonfire went back to normal. Zoro, Robin, and the figure were cracking up.

Emily turned around and stared at Van, who had grabbed her from behind, "Why did you do that?"

Van kept laughing, "You and Kristina get scared so easily. I'm sorry; it was just a little joke."

Emily grumbled, "Well, don't do it again." She looked up and saw Kristina flying towards a cliff and relaxing on a small rock. She excused herself from Zoro and flew off after the princess.

When Emily got up to the cliff, she noticed Kristina drinking from the bottle. "What are you drinking?" Emily asked curiously.

"A magic water that disables my wings for a few hours." Kristina answered, swallowing the last few drops from her bottle.

"Disable your wings? You really wanna do that?" Emily asked.

Kristina nodded, "I gotta."

Emily looked down the edge of the cliff, "We're really high up."

"Seventy-five feet and a great place for suicide." Kristina answered.

Emily was shocked, "It's a seventy-five foot drop?"

Kristina nodded, "Uh-huh. I've been coming up here since I was little because I needed some place to play and stay away from my lessons."

"And you were never afraid?" Emily asked.

Kristina shook her head, "Nope."

Emily backed away from the edge and decided to change the subject, "How long have you known my mother?"

Kristina thought for a moment, "Since I was six and your mother was thirteen."

"Ummm…do you know my parents' last name? When I was found, all the pirates that saved me knew was my first name and birth date." Emily asked.

Kristina nodded, "Yup. I know your parents' last name."

"Then tell me what it is. Please. I've wanted to know since I was really small." Emily pleaded.

Kristina smiled and whispered the name in Emily's ear.

Emily's eyes widened, "Really?"

Kristina nodded, "Uh-huh. You were born as Asakura Emily. Your parents were Asakura Lilie and Asakura Ryou and your brother was Asakura Aron."

"Wow…" Emily gasped.

Suddenly, a loud horn filled the air.

Kristina quickly stood up, "I have to go now, Emily."

"But…I have more questions for you." Emily cried.

"You'll get your answers soon enough." Kristina answered. She walked to the edge of the cliff.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Emily shouted. Kristina took a deep breath. "Hey! Your wings are disabled! Don't jump!" Emily screamed, but it was too late. The older girl had jumped off the edge of the cliff.

- - - - - -

A/N: Okay, that's chapter 21. The food eating contest was a suggestion from my best friend and Robert the Talking Banana was a suggestion from a friend of mine in my Science Fiction class. I told this boy in my class that I was going to put him this story, so Stephanie (my friend) suggested that I make him a talking banana, so I did. As for Emily's last name…while I was writing this, I was watching Shaman King, so I just borrowed the last name of the main guy. R/R if you want, but don't flame me. Also, if you have ANY ideas, send them to me. I may write good chapters, but they'd be better if I had ideas from other people.


	22. The Fire That Chooses Rulers and Never B...

Ch.22- The Fire That Chooses Rulers and Never Burns

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, but I will someday.

- - - - - -

_7th sun, 23rd day of brown chrysanthemums  
__(Saturday, November 23)_

_The celebration last night really got me thinking about who I really am. I am an Almani, I definitely know that, yet I don't know exactly who I am. I know that I was born as the second child of Asakura Ryou and Lilie, but I don't know how to act like an Asakura. Everyone here in Almania knows how to use and control their powers, but I don't. I am an Almani, but in a way, I feel like I'm not. Zoro told me that it's normal, but I don't know._

_-Emily_

- - - - - -

Emily let out an ear piercing scram as she watched Kristina jump over the edge of the cliff. Emily quickly brought out her wings and hovered five feet in the air. She was about to fly down and catch the princess before she hit the ground, but Emily found it was unnecessary. Floating up in the air on a little cloud was Kristina. She didn't look at Emily, but pointed down at Zoro.

Emily got the message and flew down to the green haired man. When she stood on the ground and brought back her wings, she noticed that all the Almani and creatures were staring up at the sky. Emily, the rest of the pirates, and Nicole joined them and looked up at the sky.

Kristina was now nearly 200 feet in the air, sitting on the small cloud that caught her when she jumped off the cliff. At first, nobody was exactly sure if she was up there because they couldn't exactly see her…until the cloud disappeared and she began to fall towards the ground.

Quickly, the boy that grabbed Emily's shoulders flew up in the air and caught the princess in his arms. The two of them hovered ten feet above the large flames of the bonfire until King Glen snapped his fingers and disabled the boy's wings. Both Kristina and the boy fell into the fire.

Emily stared in shock at what she was seeing. The girl that gave her help to defeat Pam had just fallen into the large flames in the middle of Almania. She quickly hid her face in Zoro's side, not wanting to see the flames grow and glow a bright purple color. After two minutes, Emily heard a group of people cheer.

"Emily? Are you okay?" A voice from behind the small girl asked.

Emily turned her head and saw Kristina and the boy standing in front of the fire. The flames were now its normal color and size. "I thought you fell into the flames." Emily exclaimed.

Kristina nodded, "We did. You see, these flames are magic flames. If you step in them, you won't get burned."

"What?" Emily asked, not quite understanding what she was told.

"Okay. Hey Melissa! Walk through the bonfire!" Kristina commanded her younger sister. Melissa stood up and walked through the flames with her best friends Shelby the siren and Alexandra the fairy. When they came out of the flames, they had no burns or scars. Emily was convinced, but Usopp sure as hell wasn't.

"You guys are magic. There isn't any way you can get burned from the flames if you aren't magic!" Usopp shouted.

Kristina let out a sigh, "Okay, Pinocchio. If you don't believe me, then you walk through the flames."

Usopp started to sweat, "W-what? Me?"

Luffy looked at him, "Yeah, go ahead, Usopp."

"But I'll get burned." Usopp argued.

Robin used her powers and shoved him into the bonfire.

Usopp was so scared from within the bonfire that he started thinking that he died and got sent to Hell. He let out a loud scream and started running around, not caring if he was hurt or not. He stopped when he was out of the flames and realized that he was perfectly fine.

"See? What'd I tell you? You're perfectly fine." Kristina told him.

Usopp didn't say anything to her…but he did was back through the large bonfire, but with Luffy this time.

"Continue on with the celebration!" Kristina shouted. Everyone in Almania cheered and continued on with the celebration.

"Hey, Melody of the Seas! Play for us!" Melissa shouted at Emily.

"Yeah, come on! Play for us!" Her many friends shouted. Emily blushed and shook her head.

"Please." Melissa and her friends pleaded.

Emily hesitated, but nodded. Emily stood up with her flute in her small hands and walked towards the large bonfire in the middle of Almania.

Emily lifted her flute up to her lips, took a deep breath, and began to play. She didn't play Lilie's lullaby, which got a bunch of people and creatures disappointed, but this song that she played was just as good. This song had a quick beat and a very easily placed a smile on everybody's faces.

This quick beat song was one of the very first songs she learned when she first joined the traveling circus. This song had the same effects on the Almani and the other creatures as it did on the circus people and the other people that came to see the circus when it was still around with her in it.

The Almani around the bonfire along with a few of the creatures that couldn't fly began to dance to the beat of the music being played. All their dance moves were performed at the exact same time. The smaller creatures that could fly, performed their moves on the top of the siren's and Almani's heads.

The song ended minutes later and the dancers stopped dancing and started cheering.

"More! More!" Melissa and her friends shouted.

Emily didn't need to be told twice. Her flute was brought back up to her lips and she played more songs she played in the circus when it was still around. She finished her circus songs and, by request of Melissa and Kristina, played Lilie's lullaby.

Umiryuu and a few of the other dragons came up to the surface and moved to the beat of the lullaby. Emily's flute left her lips and she got the loudest cheer she had ever gotten before that she could possibly remember. She took a bow and a seat next to Zoro and listed to a few of the siren's songs.

- - - - - -

The little white box was settled in the pocket of Sanji's coat as the man nervously walked towards Nami, who was still at some of the game booths. The man softly placed a hand on her unsuspecting shoulder.

Nami jumped and quickly turned around with a soft gasp, "Sanji-kun?"

Sanji reached into his pocked and pulled out the little white box. Slowly he placed the box in her hands, "I bought this for you, Nami-san."

Nami stared at the box for a moment, wondering what exactly was in the box. She then opened the box and all of a sudden, she couldn't breathe.

Sitting in the box was a necklace with a large aquamarine jewel in the shape of a teardrop. At the top of the aquamarine was a diamond stone. She couldn't believe it. This was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen before…and it was hers. A tear rolled down her own cheek as she stared at the one that gave her the necklace, "Sanji-kun…"

Nami slipped the necklace around her own neck and smiled.

"Kirei." Sanji told her. The tears kept coming.

"Arigato!" Nami cried, giving his a kiss like she did when Sanji gave her the Dark Diamond Bracelet. She then wrapped her arms around his body and buried her face in his chest. Her tears wet his chest, but he didn't care. She was giving him tears of happiness and that's all that mattered to him.

- - - - - -

After ten minutes of begging, Joshua led Luffy to the place that was home to all the talking fruits and vegetables.

Luffy's eyes widened at the sight of the large talking bananas, apples, oranges, lettuce, and daikon sitting on the rocks, branches, and even the grass and dirt, exchanging conversations with each other. Amongst the large bunch of them was a tired and burnt Robert.

The burns all over his peel and inside were not very serious though they did look a bit painful. The talking banana wince every time he said a word…and all of his words were complaints about Stephanie and how much Robert hated her for using her powers to set him on fire in order to start the contest.

"Wow…I want to have a talking banana, too." Luffy gasped just loud enough for Joshua to hear him and not the talking fruits and vegetables.

Joshua softly laughed, "You'll just have to tell Kristina that. She's the one that promised you a prize if you won the contest." Luffy nodded and kept watching the fruits and vegetables.

- - - - - -

A plastic ring flew through the night air, hit a pole and bounced off the side.

"Ah, Dammit! I lost!" Nicole grumbled from the exterior of a game booth.

The owner of the booth shrugged his shoulders, "Better luck next time, young lady."

Nicole's eyes were burning with fire, "I've lost 87 times and that's enough times to know that this game is rigged!"

The owner shook his head, "This game is not rigged. This game can be won by anybody."

"Yeah right! This game is impossible to win!" Nicole grumbled.

"Actually, it's pretty easy." A voice from behind her answered. Nicole turned around and saw a boy about a year older than her smiling at her.

The boy walked up to the stand, picked up a ring, and calmly tossed it at a pole. The ring went through the pole.

The game owner smiled and announced, "We have a winner!" The owner picked up the prize behind the pole: A book on Almani history, and handed it to the boy.

The boy handed the book to Nicole, "Here you go."

Nicole smiled at the boy, "Thank you."

The boy returned the smile, "No problem. By the way, my name is Valentine Vincent."

"I'm Uzumaki Nicole. And this is Molly." Nicole introduced herself and Molly.

"Hey, a Mailing Cat! Where'd you get it?" Vincent asked.

"My grandpa found her outside of Wenatchee and gave her too me." Nicole answered.

"Hey, cool!" Vincent exclaimed.

- - - - - -

"I wonder what these herbs are for." Chopper asked out loud, holding up some blue herbs.

"Those herbs cure most fatal poisons." Kristina answered from in front of him.

"You're a doctor?" Chopper asked her.

Kristina shook her head, "No, but I've been forced to learn which herbs do what when I was seven years old. My mother made me learn."

"Oh. Well, what about these?" Chopper asked, holding up a red herb.

"It eases pain." Kristina answered.

"What about the pink one?" Chopper asked.

"That's a backup if we're out of anesthetic." Kristina answered.

"The green one?"

"Cures fevers."

"The red and purple one?"

"Eases labor pains."

"The purple one?"

"Cures stomachaches."

"The yellow one?"

"Heals sore throats."

"What about the orange one?"

"It eases burns."

- - - - - -

"And that's how I single-handedly defeated Crocodile." Usopp announced.

"Wow. Really?" Alexandra asked from on top of Melissa's head.

Usopp nodded, "Would I lie to a cute little princess and fairy?"

Melissa and Alexandra blushed and shook their heads. Inside, Usopp smirked. This is so easy.

- - - - - -

Swords smacked each other and cheering echoed throughout Almania.

"Go, Zoro!" Emily called out. With one quick smack with the sword, an Almani man went down.

"The winner…Zoro…again." Glen announced with a sigh.

Zoro had been in a sword-fighting contest ever since it started. And after the twenty minutes since the contest had begun, Zoro had defeated every single one of the Royal Family's knights and Van's brother, Folken.

"Who's next?" Zoro shouted into the audience.

"Me." A male voice shouted back. Suddenly, Van was standing in front of Zoro, holding an unsleathed sword.

"Go get him, Zoro!" Emily shouted.

"Kick his ass, Van!" Kristina screamed. Emily stared at her. "Hey, I gotta cheer for him. He's my fiancé." Kristina told her. Emily shrugged and both girls continued cheering.

"Fight!" Glen shouted. Instantly, both Van and Zoro started fighting: Zoro with three swords, Van with one. Emily and Kristina continued on with their loud cheering. A half hour passed and both Van and Zoro were still fighting their little battle. A large crowd was surrounding the small area in which the battle was.

And after seventeen minutes, the battle had ended with the victor being Zoro. Everybody cheered for him, even Kristina, although she was a bit disappointed that Van lost. Nobody cheered louder than Emily did, especially when she found that nobody else in Almania wanted to challenge Zoro.

After being praised for his sword-fighting skills and given an offer to join the Almani Knights, which he turned down due to the fact that he was one of the strongest of the Straw Hat Pirates and couldn't leave, Zoro walked back to the bonfire with Emily following him. Everyone else went their separate directions.

Nicole, Robin, and Chopper made it back to the castle for a bit of quiet relaxation from the celebration…and for a bit of research from Nicole's Almani History book and the herbs that Chopper picked. The castle was extremely silent and almost completely empty (there was two guards in the castle, but they were quiet).

The celebration was still going on outside of the castle. All the sirens were singing until they could sing no more while the people and creatures danced, played games, and laughed with the conversations they carried from one another. The sky was pitch black and the celebration still continued.

Emily met up with Kristina on a rock at the beach. "Why was everybody cheering when you and Van fell into the fire?" Emily asked the older girl.

"The fire proved that both Van and I would be great rulers of Almania." Kristina answered with a smile on her face.

"What? That's how they pick rulers?" Emily cried.

Kristina half shrugged, "Sort of. It's how they pick the good rulers. The King arranges a marriage and on the next celebration, the son or daughter of the king and their fiancé falls into the fire. If the fire glows, then they will be great rulers. That's kinda how my Dad got chosen to be King. Andrew's dad, my Uncle Greg, fell into the fire with my Aunt Doris and nothing happened so he wasn't chosen. Then Joshua's dad, my Uncle Tod, fell into the fire with my Aunt Kimberly and the same thing happened. Then my parents fell into the fire and the fire glowed, so they were chosen to be the next rulers."

Emily was shocked, "Really?"

Kristina nodded, "Uh-huh. I will be the next queen of Almania when Dad dies…if he chooses me."

"Chooses you?" Emily asked.

Kristina nodded, "Yeah. He has to choose either me or Melissa, but Dad promised me that when I turn eighteen, I will rule half of Almania. If I do a good job I will be chosen."

"Ummm…in one of my mother's diaries, she talked about a king and an upcoming queen."

Emily told her. "Oh. Your parents weren't here when my Dad became the King. See, when you parents were here, my grandpa was the king but chose my Dad to be heir to the throne. He died when I was twelve, a year after your mother left with your father. My dad was the upcoming King." Kristina answered.

"Oh." Emily said.

Both girls were silent for a moment until a smirk found itself on Kristina's face, "Hey Emily? Wanna have some fun?"

"Huh? Fun?" Emily asked cluelessly. Kristina nodded and started lifting two fingers towards her mouth. "Wait! What are you going to do?" Emily asked in a scared voice.

Kristina stuck the fingers in her mouth and blew. A loud whistle echoed through the ocean. A rumble came out of the water appeared a large dragon. It slammed its tail against the beach and both girls flew through the air and landed on his back. The dragon flew off through the air…fast.

Emily let out a loud scream, but the dragon didn't seem to mind. The dragon hid itself halfway under the water and still kept going. Water splashed around the two girls. The dragon quickly flew around the waterfall in Almania and headed towards the deepest part of the forest. On the way, the dragon started doing tricks: loops, waves, ascending, descending, and more. Emily was freaked, but Kristina wasn't. In fact, the older girl was screaming in joy.

"Hey, Emily! Stand up!" Kristina shouted.

"WHAT?" Emily screamed.

The older girl stood up on her own feet with the dragon still zooming through the air and she seemed to get her balance pretty quickly. "Come on. Try it! It's easy." Kristina shouted. Emily hesitated, but obeyed her. She stood up and quickly got her balance.

Emily clung to the hand of Kristina as they flew through the air, moving their bodies to dodge trees and their branches. The dragon made a sharp turn and headed towards Golden Town.

"Emily, get ready." Kristina warned.

"Get ready? For what?" Emily asked.

Kristina waited for a minute before shouting, "THIS!"

Before Emily could say or do anything, Kristina jumped onto a large branch with Emily. The dragon disappeared into the sea while the girls slid down the soaked branches of the trees from tree to tree with Emily screaming her lungs out the entire time.

Zoro and Van were just feet away from the screaming and laughing girls. Instantly, the two ran to the trees the girls were sliding on. Kristina and Emily slid off the branch they slid on and started falling towards the ground. Van and Zoro caught them in their arms before the girls hit the ground.

"Wasn't that fun, Emily?" Kristina asked breathlessly.

Emily stared at her, "Fun? You're crazy! That was scary!" Zoro, Van, and Kristina laughed.

Emily took a look at the sky and gasped, "Oh my god! Look!" Zoro, Van, and Kristina looked up and also gasped. Many multi-colored shooting stars were shooting through the sky. "Ohhh…" Emily gasped.

"I can't believe it." Kristina whispered.

"What?" Van asked her.

"This is the first time in sixteen years that this has happened." Kristina answered.

Emily, Zoro, Van, and Kristina watched the shooting stars until they were gone. They then noticed that Golden Town was almost completely empty. The celebration was over.

"We should probably head back." Emily said. Everyone else agreed with her. Zoro, Kristina, and Emily headed to the castle while Van headed for his house in Emerald Town.

Once inside the castle, Zoro headed off for his room and Emily turned to Kristina, "You said that the colored shooting stars happened sixteen years ago?"

Kristina nodded, "Uh-huh." She motioned for Emily to follow her up to her room. Once in Kristina's room, Kristina picked up a green book off the shelf, flipped some pages, then pointed at a page, "Read." Emily took the book and obeyed her:

_7th sun, 9th day of blue-green holly  
__(Saturday, December 9)_

_At about 10:00, a large group of shooting stars came. I've seen shooting stars before, but never once have I seen multi-colored ones. That's what I saw. Melissa and I couldn't get a very good view of the shooting stars from our windows, so we quietly snuck up the top of the castle and stood on the roof. The stars were so beautiful, so bright that I thought that I was heading towards the sky._

_As we stood up there, we were joined by Dad, Uncle Tod, Uncle Greg, Aunt Doris, Aunt Kimberly, Joshua, and Andrew. All of them were amazed. It looked like fireworks and the colors reflected onto our faces and Melissa's golden hair. The stars lasted probably fifteen minutes and during that time, Dad apologized to me for the arranged marriage him and Mr. Fanel made for me and Van._

_I was so mad at him when he first made the arrangement that I refused to speak with him for a week. I've known Van since we were both tiny children and although he's grown a bit more kinder over the years, he still doesn't believe that girls can protect themselves and can't rule without a man being with them. I punched him for saying that._

_I decided to forgive Dad. I mean, I might as well. If I don't, then I might not get the chance to rule at all. Besides, Van could change in the years. Uncle Tod told me that by using Joshua as an example (I wish he chose someone else as an example for Joshua HASN'T changed at all), but I still refuse to let Van ever boss me around and I mean it!_

_After the shooting stars were over, everyone but me went back inside. Dad called me in, but I didn't move. The shooting stars left the regular stars shining brighter than I had ever seen them shine, even brighter than they did when both Mom and Grandpa were still alive. Dad tells me that I might as well change my last name to Van's since I am going to marry him (whenever that happens), so from now on I will always be_

_-Fanel Kristina_

Emily looked at Kristina, "Wow, it's like tonight."

Kristina nodded, "Yup. If you want, you can keep that diary."

Emily smiled at the older girl, "Thank you."

"No problem." Kristina told her, "It's getting pretty late. You should get to bed."

Emily giggled, "Okay."

Before Emily left the room, Kristina called, "Wait! When are you guys leaving Almania?"

Emily shrugged, "Zoro, Luffy, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, Robin, and I are probably going to leave tomorrow, but I don't know about Nicole and Molly."

Kristina was confused, "Aren't Nicole and Molly part of your crew?"

Emily shook her head and answered, "No. They were only with us to come to Almania. They wanted to find out more of the Almani history. I don't know how long they're staying here."

"Oh. Okay. Well, see ya in the morning." Kristina told her.

"See ya in the morning." Emily answered, walking out the door and towards the room she shared with Nami, Robin, and Nicole.

"Hey, Nami! Nice necklace." Emily complimented, noticing the necklace around the navigator's neck.

Nami slightly blushed, "Thanks. Sanji-kun gave it to me."

"It's so beautiful. By the way, when are we going to leave Almania?" Emily asked.

"Tomorrow. We need to get back to the sea." Nami answered.

Emily shrugged, "Okay." She walked to her bed, laid her head on her pillow, and fell victim to sleep.

- - - - - -

A/N: Well, that's chapter 22. This is not the final chapter of the story, there will be another. I don't own Valentine Vincent or Folken either. Vincent came from Final Fantasy 7 and Folken came from Escaflowne. And about Nami's necklace: it's actually based on a true necklace I saw. Last summer, my sister's friend from California came up to our town to visit for a month and during her visit, my mom took me, my sister, and her friend to a jewelry store to get my sister and her friend's ears pierced (I only wanted to come along to look at the jewelry and my sister's friend backed out when we got to the store). The friend and I were looking at the cases and saw the most beautiful necklace I have ever seen before (which is the one that Sanji gave Nami). My mom promised to buy me and the friend something since my sister was getting earrings.

I had my eyes on the necklace. The owner of the jewelry store took the necklace out of the case and explained what it was. He even let me and the friend hold the necklace, but not put it around our necks. My mom came over and asked how much it was and the owner said that it was $1,500. My mom laughed and said no, so I never got the necklace. Oh well. I had a feeling that I wouldn't get it anyway.

R/R if you want, but don't flame me and send me any ideas if you got any. And, Mystic Kyra, don't ever say that you're not a creative person because everybody is creative, they just usually don't know it.


	23. Back to the Open Seas

Ch.23- Back to the Open Seas

Disclaimer: Ah, Hell. You guys know that I don't own One Piece.

- - - - - -

_1st sun, 24th day of brown chrysanthemums  
__(Sunday, November 24)_

_We left Almania today, the Straw Hat Pirates and me. Nicole left also, but not with us. Some of the Almani from Almania left with Nicole to return to Wenatchee or anywhere near there. Some even planned to move to Kupeviru and build houses near my house that Pam burned to the ground. The ones that stayed were disappointed that I left, but I had to leave. I can't abandon the group that treated me like a normal person instead of the slave I once was._

_I've honestly forgotten how good the sea smells and how relaxing the sea breeze feels when you're free. Pam kept me captive for so long that I forgot how much I love the sea and made me believe that I would never ever have freedom again…and that I would never be able to live after Pam finished with me, but now I'm happy. We're all together: Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, Robin, Cherry, and me._

_-Asakura Emerald Emily_

- - - - - -

Emily woke up early the next morning. When she opened her eyes Nami, Robin, and Nicole were still asleep. Without waking anyone up, Emily opened up the one window in the room, brought out her wings, and flew out the window. A few of the Almani were heading towards the entrance of Almania. Quickly and quietly, the few Almani walked through the entrance and didn't look back.

_So this is how Mother and Father got out._ Emily thought. She watched the leaving Almani until she could see them no more and flew off. A few shop owners were beginning to open up their shops and a tall, muscular man walked up to the large bell in a tower in Golden Town. The man pulled a rope and ran the bell. Emily then decided to fly back to the castle.

She met the rest of the pirates and Nicole in the dining room along with the rest of the Royal Family. Mountains of food were placed on the long dining room table that had not only the pirates, Nicole and the Royal Family sitting around it, but also the Royal Knights and teachers.

"Let's eat!" Joshua shouted. In an instant, Joshua, Luffy, and Andrew began to eat like pigs.

Nobody paid any attention and began eating like they normally did. The men and boys eating a lot, the women and girls eating a bit.

"You guys are leaving today?" Melissa asked from her seat. The pirates nodded.

"We're leaving this afternoon." Luffy told her.

Kristina smiled, "Good. After breakfast I have something to show you pirates, Nicole, and Dad."

- - - - - -

Breakfast ended about forty five minutes later. Melissa, instead of going with Kristina, Nicole, the pirates, and her father, went out to play with Shelby before Melissa had to go to her princess lessons and Shelby to her singing lessons. Joshua begged Kristina to let him come along, but she refused. She didn't say why, but she did.

Kristina led Nicole, the pirates, and her father towards her garden, ready to reveal a few more secrets only she knew. On the way, Luffy and Usopp gave some of the Almani permission to fix up the Going Merry. Stopping in front of the sealed door, Kristina looked around the outside to see if anyone was watching her. Nobody was.

Quickly, Kristina played the code and the doors to the garden opened. Quickly, everybody ran inside the garden and Emily closed the doors.

"Ummm…Dad, welcome to my garden." Kristina told Glen.

"So this is where you come to hide from your lessons? For how long?" He asked his daughter.

Kristina blushed, "Since I was ten." Her father stared at her with a half angry look.

"Okay, so what did you want to show us?" Nami asked Kristina.

Kristina led the group to the other side of the garden and stopped in front of a wall of vines and leaves. She softly moved the vines and leaves out of the way and revealed what was behind them. Everyone's eyes widened. The vines and leaves covered a large room holding zillions of berries worth of gold, jewels, and treasure.

"As a thank you for saving Almania, I would like you pirates and Nicole to take as many of these as you want." Kristina announced with a large smile.

"Really?" Nami asked. Kristina nodded. Instantly, Nami, the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates, and Nicole ran into the room, picking up and examining every piece of gold they could get their hands on, especially Nami.

The gold shone in the little sunlight of the small room. The jewels shone brighter. Though the room was small, gold and jewels were everywhere. There was one of the largest amounts of treasure untouched by a flesh-and-blood hand for years they'd ever seen…and the treasure belonged to the nine of them.

Luffy picked up a small staff made of gold, rubies, and diamonds. With his long arms, the boy moved the staff in different directions and smiled. Nami was picking through the treasure and pulled out jewels that looked like they could be worth a lot of money when sold. Nicole and Robin calmly read the gold with ancient writing on it and took the things that seemed to interest them. Zoro, Emily, Sanji, Chopper, and Usopp were only picking and keeping a few things and left the rest alone.

By the time the taking was completed, the bags the pirates and Nicole had with them were overflowing with treasure in the room and there was still tons of treasure left in the room.

"How long have you known about all these…things? They look ancient." Glen asked his daughter.

"Since the beginning." Kristina answered.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Glen asked.

Kristina shrugged, "I didn't want other people to walk around my special place. Now Dad, I wanna show you something else."

Kristina led her father down a tunnel. The Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole followed them. Kristina stopped in front of a large rock. She played the song she played to open the door to the garden. The door opened and the eleven in the garden found themselves six feet away from the exit of Almania.

"Kristina? What?" Glen asked, not knowing what to say.

"Dad, remember 20 years ago when Ryou and Lilie escaped and you wondered how they got passed every guard except for the ones by the exit?" Kristina asked. Her father nodded. "Well, I helped them. I brought Ryou and Lilie to my garden, through this tunnel, and up to the exit. Sorry." Kristina admitted.

Her father stared at her with an angry look, but then he looked over at Emily and realized that if Ryou and Lilie hadn't have left Almania 20 years ago, then Ryou, Lilie, Aron, and Emily would have been killed in Pam's attack and then the world would have been in Hell. He turned his head back at his daughter, "It's okay. I'm glad you did."

Kristina giggled, "Thanks Dad."

"So, is there anything else you need to tell me?" Glen asked.

"Yeah, a few things." Kristina admitted. She closed the door and walked back to the castle, explaining the code she found in her closet and using it to block Pam from the infinite power spells. She didn't, however, reveal that she, Joshua, and Stephanie had snuck down to the forbidden areas of the castle multiple times. The others followed them.

Once back at the castle, Luffy asked, "Where's my talking fruit?"

"Yeah, about that. The talking fruits and vegetables here in Almania can't live anywhere else. We can care for a fruit or vegetable for you, but you can't take it with you on the sea. So, if you want something else, then let me know." Kristina told him.

Luffy shook his head, "I want a talking banana."

Kristina shrugged, "Okay, but you have to leave it here in Almania."

"I don't care." Luffy told her.

"Do you want a baby banana?" Kristina asked.

Luffy nodded. "Then follow me." Kristina instructed. She led Luffy to the deep forest and shook a glowing tree.

A baby banana fell into her arms, peeled by itself, and cried.

"See, the thing about the talking fruits and vegetables is that it takes five years for them to age one year, so if you come back in ten years, your banana will be two years old." Kristina explained.

"So, is my banana a boy or a girl?" Luffy asked.

Kristina paused, "Oh dang. Hey, Robert!"

Robert stared at her, "What?"

"Is this banana a boy or a girl?" Kristina asked him.

Robert walked to the baby in her arms, looked it over, and answered, "Boy."

"Thank ya lots." Kristina told him before turning back to Luffy, "So, what are you going to name him?"

Luffy put a hand under his chin and thought for a moment. Then he answered, "Niku."

"Niku? You're going to name your baby 'meat'?" Kristina asked him. Luffy nodded. Kristina shrugged, "Okay, it's your baby." She turned to Robert, "Hey, Robert. While the pirates are gone, I want you to watch over baby Niku."

"What's in it for me?" Robert asked.

"I'll try and make Stephanie leave you alone." Kristina told him. Robert immediately agreed.

"I wanna take Niku to see the rest of the group." Luffy announced.

"Take your time. As long as he stays here, he's fine." Kristina told him. She placed the tiny baby in his rubbery arms carefully. The boy then ran through the forest, to his crew with Kristina running after him, screaming for him to be careful.

- - - - - -

The rest of the Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole were standing by the Going Merry at the time, staring in awe at all the quick repairs done. The ship looked almost completely new especially with the work done by the Almani of average status.

"Hey, guys! Look at my baby!" Luffy shouted.

Everyone turned around.

"Baby?" Zoro asked cluelessly.

Luffy held out Niku, "Yup. His name is Niku. He's a talking banana."

"Where did you get that thing?" Sanji asked.

"And why did you name it Niku?" Usopp asked.

"Kristina gave him to me…and I like the name 'Niku'." Luffy admitted.

"And where are we going to keep it?" Sanji asked.

"Here." Luffy told him, "Another banana will watch over Niku while we're gone."

"Before you leave, we've got a few more gifts to give you. As a thank you, we, the Almani have decided to stock up your ship with food and supplies. And Chopper, I know that you've been studying the herbs here, so I placed a book in the ship on what the herbs do and how to use them." Kristina announced. Chopper thanked her and headed into the ship. Sanji, Nami, and Usopp followed him.

"I also know how much Nicole and Robin wanted to know about Almani history, so I arranged for books on some of the secrets of Almania to belong to you. Just go inside the castle and the guards will bring you to the books." Kristina told them. Robin and Nicole walked inside the castle.

"Emily, I got something special for you. Follow me." Kristina instructed. Emily and Zoro followed her to the edge of Emerald Town.

- - - - - -

The Marines were halfway to the base that same day. Kim, Kelly, and Ryan went back to their daily routine of sword fighting practicing…along with a few chores.

"Hey Ryan? Are you going to take Emily off the WANTED list?" Kim asked.

Ryan thought for a minute before answering, "Nah."

"Why not?" Kelly asked.

"She's a pirate, that's why. Plus, she said it's my decision." Ryan answered.

"You're so mean, Ryan." Kelly told him.

"Yeah, I know." Ryan said. The three of them laughed.

- - - - - -

Kristina led Zoro and Emily to a small house in Emerald Town and knocked on the door. As she waited for someone to open the door, Zoro asked, "Who lives here? This house is a lot smaller than the other houses in this town."

"My friend, Katie, lives here alone. She's my age and raises Mailing Cats. She goes to her parent's house next door for food, but sleeps in this house with the babies. She told me that a litter of kittens is able to leave their mothers and we're going to give Emily one." Kristina answered.

The door opened and a girl Kristina's height with long, blonde hair appeared in the doorway, "Hey, Kristina."

"Hey, Katie. We're here to see the Mailing Kittens." Kristina answered.

Katie smiled, "Good. Come on in." Katie led Kristina, Zoro, and Emily to a room in the house. On a small rug sat eight different kittens.

Two of the kittens were black and white and playing with a gray kitten and a brown kitten. Another gray kitten, two brown kittens, and a ruby red kitten were exploring the new people in the room.

"All of them are available to adopt. Take your pick." Katie told her with a smile.

Emily looked over every single one of the kittens, but couldn't decide. All eight of them were so cute. But there was one little kitten that walked up to her and began rubbing its head against her legs: the little red one. She picked up the small kitten and announced, "This one. I'd like to have this one."

Katie smiled at her, "Good. She's a real sweetheart. What are you going to name her?"

Emily thought for a bit. _Hmmm…she's red, but what should I name her? Ruby? No, that name is too common. Garnet? No, it doesn't sound right…wait, I know!_ "I'm going to name her Cherry." Emily announced.

"Cherry?" Zoro asked her. Emily nodded, giggling when the kitten rubbed her head against Emily's.

"Okay, the Mailing Cat is very intelligent. It can learn where every city and town is just by looking over maps. In fact, Mailing Cats were the only creatures that were allowed to leave Almania if they were born here. She's still a baby, so you shouldn't let her travel for at least four more months." Katie explained.

"Thank you." Emily whispered, lifting Cherry up onto her left shoulder. Katie smiled,

"Take good care of her. OH by the way, she eats anything you eat." Emily nodded,

"Okay." Kristina led Zoro and Emily out of Katie's house, the girls exchanging good-byes.

"Ummm…if Cherry can't deliver a letter for another few months, is there a Mailing Cat that can deliver one now?" Emily asked.

Kristina nodded her head, "Yeah, we do. Why?"

"I need to deliver something to my sister in Yokuna." Emily answered, running to the room she shared in the castle. Taking out a pen and paper, she furiously wrote a letter to Misao and returned outside with the letter and a small bag. Standing by Kristina was another Mailing Cat. Zoro slipped off Misao's bracelet and placed it in the bag.

Emily handed both the letter and bag to the Mailing Cat, "The address is on the letter." The cat nodded and flew off. "I hope Misao gets the letter." Emily sighed.

"She will. Don't worry." Zoro assured her.

"Emily, we got something else for you. We made some proper headstones for your family." Kristina announced, leading Emily into the castle.

Sitting in the first room were headstones made from rock. Carved very delicately in each headstone were the names "Asakura Ryou", "Asakura Lilie", and "Asakura Aron" and the years of their births and deaths.

Tears stung Emily's eyes, "Thank you."

Kristina nodded, "A few of the Almani are moving to Kupeviru today. They will bring along the headstones."

Emily thanked her again only to realize that she was going to be given one more thing: a book on how to use and control her powers, of course she made the decision that she wouldn't fight with her powers until they were mastered. Until then, she'd go back to fighting with the boomerang.

Emily quickly gave Kristina a hug, repeating thank-yous. She eventually let go and all the Straw Hat Pirates and Nicole stood in the castle.

"If there's anything else we can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask." Kristina told them. Nobody said anything.

"I should go now." Nicole announced.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked.

"I talked to a few Almani. I'm heading back to Wenatchee." Nicole answered.

"Nicole…I…wanna thank you for helping us save me and my race." Emily told her.

Nicole smiled, "No problem. It's what friends do."

Emily nodded and giggled, "You're right."

Nicole gave Emily a quick hug and "good-bye". She then grabbed the books she was given and followed Molly to the group of Almani that were planning to leave. The books were put in a bag and the bag was placed in Molly's mouth. Molly grew larger, the Almani brought out their wings, and the strongest picked up Nicole. All the Almani, Nicole, and Molly flew up in the air. Nicole was soon gone, waving as she flew.

"We probably should go, too." Luffy announced. Nami, Sanji, Zoro, Emily, Usopp, Chopper, and Robin nodded.

"Do you really have to leave?" Melissa asked. The group nodded.

"We have to go. It's our time." Robin told her.

Melissa frowned, "Okay. But, before you leave, can we hear the Melody of the Seas?"

"Yeah, come on." Kristina agreed. All eyes turned at Emily.

Emily giggled, "Okay." She took out her flute and played Lilie's lullaby. Both princesses smiled at the song and kept smiling as it was played in the sea.

"We've got to go now." Emily told them.

Kristina and Melissa nodded and followed the pirates to the Going Merry. The anchor was pulled and the ship started to sail away.

"Sayonara pirates…Emily!" Kristina and Melissa called, waving good-bye. All the Straw Hat Pirates waved back at them until they were unable to see Almania anymore.

"I hope Niku will be okay." Luffy muttered.

"Luffy, he's a banana. He'll be fine." Chopper pointed out.

Luffy laughed, "You're right." Emily giggled and took in a breath of the calming sea air.

Zoro smiled at her, "Welcome home, Emily."

- - - - - -

A few days later, the Mailing Cat delivered Emily's letter and Misao's bracelet to the Morimura Mansion. At the time the letter arrived, Haru and Misao were in the living room painting and laughing. Misao let the Mailing Cat take a rest while Misao slipped on her bracelet and read the letter out loud to both her and Haru:

_**Dear Misao,**_

_**We did it! We defeated Pam and it's all thanks to the three Dark Diamond Bracelets, the Melody of the Seas, and the help from a spirit. Pam was killed and her daughters were banished to an eternity to a world of darkness. Not only that, but the Almani Gods resurrected all the Almani that died in the attack, including the spirit that helped me (who is an Almani princess).**_

_**The day the Almani were resurrected, a celebration for us was made. That day I was told that I was the Melody of the Seas (I can control the sea). And remember that Christmas when we were nine and I couldn't tell the Peterson children my last name because I didn't know it? Well, now I do. I was born as Asakura Emily.**_

**_Before I left Almania, the eldest Almani princess gave me my own Mailing Cat, but I can't use her to send letters for another four months because she's still a baby. She's so cute. She has ruby red fur and her name is Cherry. Oh Misao, so much has happened since we last wrote, but I am still writing in my diary and I will make sure you read it. I promise._**

_**Your beloved little sister and pirate,  
**__**Asakura Emerald Emily**_

_**P.S. I miss you.**_

"Wow, so the Almani weren't wiped out." Haru exclaimed.

Misao shook her head and smiled, "And she even made friends with a princess and helped save the world." Misao walked to her room, pulled out a pen and paper, and began to write a quick response to her little sister:

_**Dear Emily, **_

_**I was so relieved at your last letter to know that Pam is gone forever as are her two daughters. I was also overjoyed about the Almani being resurrected and about you being able to find your last name. I also want to see Cherry. She seems so cute and I can't wait to see her.**_

**_The slaves that became servants here in the mansion are happy to be working here. They seemed even happier when Haru and I decided to teach them how to read. It also makes me happy because I get to let them feel the way I did when you first taught me how to read. I also feel even gladder that I got the only thing I have of my father. Thanks._**

_**Your beloved older sister and artist,  
**__**Morimura Misao**_

_**P.S. I miss you.**_

Misao folded up her letter and handed it back to the Mailing Cat, asking it to deliver the letter to Emily. The Mailing Cat took the letter in its mouth and left the Morimura Mansion. "I hope she gets this letter. I miss her so much." Misao whispered.

Haru put an arm over Misao's shoulders, "I know. I miss her too."

- - - - - -

Emily received Misao's letter three days later. The Mailing Cat quickly gave Emily the letter and went back to Almania, to its home. Emily opened up the letter and smiled as she read each word written by her sister. Her bright blue-green eyes began to fill with tears as she realized how much she missed Misao, but she refused to let them come pouring from her eyes.

Ever since she left Almania, Emily started to remember how much the sea calmed her down inside.

Cherry seemed to enjoy the sea also as well as being with Emily as the girl played her flute or practiced with her powers and her boomerang. Cherry also enjoyed playing with some of the other crew members when they weren't doing their jobs.

The night the Straw Hat Pirates left Almania, all nine of the pirates were able to relax into their beds not having to face the facts that the rooms they were in was not a room that wasn't theirs like they had to do in Almania. Cherry slept peacefully next to Emily. The ship softly rocked the boat both during the day and during the night…and it felt good. It felt even better when Emily got back to writing in the little book Misao bought her back in Yokuna:

_7th sun, 30th day of brown chrysanthemums  
__(Saturday, November 30)_

_I spent two hours yesterday studying the book Kristina gave me on how to control my powers, but I'm not sure if I'm getting any better, so Zoro told me that I should give my powers a break for a bit, like I should just pretend that I don't have any Almani powers, that I'm just a normal girl._

_Being back on the Going Merry makes me feel happier than I ever felt before, even happier then the days I had in the traveling circus when Mama and Papa were still alive. I try to think about what would have happened if Zoro hadn't have bought me or if I'd have let Pam kill me back in Almania._

_If any of that would have happened, the world would have gone to Hell and I'd never get the chance to call Zoro my brother or him calling me his sister. My future has changed and some day I will master my powers, I will be the greatest musician of all time, and I may be given the last name 'Roronoa'. But until then, I am_

_Asakura Emerald Emily_

"Itai!" A loud voice screamed from behind the orange trees. Emily put down Misao's diary, caught her boomerang in her left hand, and looked behind her. Not only had her boomerang his Luffy's hands that were attempting to grab an orange from Nami's trees, but Cherry clamped her teeth into his hands and wouldn't let go no matter how much he attempted to get her off.

Zoro, Emily, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, and Robin laughed as the captain screamed for help.

"Cherry, let go of him." Emily commanded.

Cherry let go of Luffy's hand and hopped onto Emily's lap purring. Everyone laughed and went back to their business: Luffy sitting on the bow, Zoro taking a nap by the mast, Nami looking over a map, Sanji handing out fruits for Nami and Robin and a chilled green apple for Emily and Cherry, Usopp making a new weapon, Chopper reading from the herb book he got from Almania, and Robin reading one of the books she got from Almania…and that's what Emily wanted to see for the rest of her days as the Straw Hat Pirate's musician.

THE END

- - - - - -

A/N: Ah, my beautiful story is finally complete, but I may write sequels to this story if people give me a few ideas. Katie is a real person, another of my friends. The thing in Emily's letter about her not knowing her last name at Christmas, you have to read the final chapter of my story _Christmas Memories_ to understand what she's talking about. R/R if you want, but don't flame me please.


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